The EU has an ambitious target of having 25% of farmland in organic production by 2030. This target is a long way off for Ireland where, currently, organic production represents just 2% of Irish agricultural land use. Sheepmeat, for example, exceeds market demand while in other sectors such as fruit and vegetables, demand is greater than supply which is met by imports.

Organic incentives

Switching to organic farming has a two-year lead-in period during which time the farmer has to forsake conventional farming aids to farm organically but doesn’t get the organic premium for the outputs as they aren’t certified organic.

The organic farming scheme (OFS) – which is run by the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (DAFM) – provides an enhanced payment during the conversion period as detailed in Table 1, moving into a lower-rate maintenance payment for subsequent years. A five-year minimum commitment is required by farmers converting to avail of this scheme.

Irish organic production

In its review of the organic food sector and the strategy for its development from 2019 to 2025, DAFM identified 1,700 organic farmers, using 72,000ha or 2% of the land available for agriculture. This represents an increase of 50% in the area in organic production in 2014.

Across the organic categories, the majority – 1,400 – are livestock farmers who between them have 50,000 cattle, 0.8% of the national herd and 18,000 of which are suckler cows. They slaughter 15,000 cattle annually which represents just 0.26% of total beef production.

There were 161 organic tillage farms in 2017 with 2,426ha, of which 1,181ha was planted in organic oats

Organic sheep is the next largest category with 600 farmers and 69,900 sheep producing 36,772 lambs for sale, but the national organic sheep census for 2016 identified that 72% of this production was sold in conventional markets.

Fruit and vegetable production utilises 524ha with 300 farmers but this only meets 30% of the market demand in Ireland,

There were 161 organic tillage farms in 2017 with 2,426ha, of which 1,181ha was planted in organic oats. This isn’t sufficient to meet Irish demand with home-produced organic oats only meeting 40% of the organic breakfast cereal market. Irish total production was estimated at 7,500t but the demand including animal feed is estimated at 23,000t annually, meaning animal feed has to be imported.

Fruit and vegetable production utilises 524ha with 300 farmers but this only meets 30% of the market demand in Ireland, meaning 70% of organic vegetables and fruit are imported. The Irish dairy sector is tiny with just 45 farmers milking 2,912 cows and producing a minuscule 0.11% of total milk production.

The market

Euromonitor estimates the value of the Irish market for organic produce at €163.7m in 2020, rising to €199m by 2024, and a separate Kantar report for Bord Bia put the value of the Irish retail organic market at €162,257 in 2017. This research also showed that fruit and vegetables made up 34% of the total organic retail market and yoghurt accounted for 17%.

There was an estimate of €64m for exports in 2015

Bord Bia research identified that 91% of consumers were well disposed towards organic produce but didn’t want to pay the premium with 48% surveyed saying that the price of organic was why they didn’t buy it and 19% saying that an absence of promotions kept them from buying.

It is difficult to obtain the value of export sales of Irish organic produce. There was an estimate of €64m for exports in 2015 – this is the most recent figure used in DAFM’s review of the organic food sector and strategy document.

Even with incentives through the OFS and other schemes for equipment, organic output in Irish agriculture is tiny. Sheep farming lends itself more than others to organic production but the market isn’t there and produce is sold as conventional.

Organic farmers are among the most enthusiastic and have to be extremely professional to maximise their output without conventional tools

There is demand for fruit, vegetables and cereals but this is met by imports with the market not strong enough to encourage enough Irish production. Organic farmers are among the most enthusiastic and have to be extremely professional to maximise their output without conventional tools.

In the absence of a stronger market for the beef and sheep sectors, it will require a huge incentive in the next CAP to move Irish organic production in any meaningful way towards the 25% target.