Funding for the Organic Farming Scheme will be boosted by 33% to allow it to be reopened for new entrants for the first time since 2018.

The scheme received €12m in Budget 2020, so an extra €4m is set to be added, taking total funding to €16m.

This could allow an extra 500 new entrants to the scheme next year. This is likely to be targeted at dairy and tillage farmers because Ireland relies heavily on imports for organic dairy and grain.

Ireland has one of the lowest levels of organic farming in the EU, with just 2% of land area under organic production, compared to the EU average of 8%. The EU’s Farm to Fork strategy has set a target of 25% of EU land to be under organic management by 2030.

The IFA’s organic chair Nigel Reneghan said rejected applicants from the last scheme must be prioritised, and rejected farmers who continued to farm organically should be paid retrospectively.