An information meeting has been organised for farmers about the Organic Farming Scheme, which reopens on Monday 4 March.
The Irish Farmers Association (IFA) are organising the virtual event which will take place on Microsoft Teams on Thursday 4 March at 8:30pm.
Farmers who are considering applying for the scheme are invited to attend. The scheme last reopened in November 2018 for four weeks. However, 75 per cent of applicants were refused admission due to a flawed points-based system that discriminated against smaller land-based applicants.
IFA Organics Committee chairperson Nigel Reneghan said: “The IFA has made it clear to the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine that this cannot happen again. The organic sector is badly under-resourced and I know from speaking with farmers that there are huge information gaps.”
There will be officials from the Department of Agriculture at the information meeting to provide details on the scheme. There will also be Teagasc representatives to give advice for farmers considering converting to organic farming.
“Switching enterprises can be incredibly daunting so we will also have farmers who have gone through the process available on the night to share their experiences with people,” he added.
LSL News.