New organic advisers in Ireland

In Ireland there now are 1,100 farmers using organic methods to farm almost 40,000 hectares. “Over the course of the past 12 years there has been a six-fold increase in the area of land used for organic farming,” said Tom Kirley, the acting director of Teagasc, which is the Irish Agriculture and Food Development Authority. He went on to add that growth in the sector of organics will be matched by Teagasc in their taking on three additional advisors of organic farming.

Kirley also said that farming of organics is about producing food for this developing market, which is growing in popularity both in Ireland and in other countries of Europe. At the moment Teagasc has three research centers in Oakpark (County Carlow), Athenry (County Galway) and Johnstown Castle (County Wexford). They are the owner of 500 acres used for organic research.

“We are establishing a team of advisors,” continued Kirley. “They will meet the needs of the organic sector and show our commitment to Organic food and farming.” The conference in Tullamore however, for Teagasc organics, found a somewhat dull response to this opportunity from Irish producers.

Currently, Irish organic farmers produce around 3,000 finished organic cattle and 6,000 lambs annually. Estimates say that the UK market needs to import up to 20,000 cattle per year to fill the gap between its own production and consumer demand.

Source: Teagasc