There has been a 20% increase in applications for the Organic Farming Scheme (OFS), this is according to the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (DAFM).
The Minister of State at the department, Senator Pippa Hackett says there were 380 new applicants when the scheme closed on Friday, 22 April, 2022, which is an increase of almost a fifth on 2021 numbers. The DAFM says that close to 700 farmers joined the OFS in the last 12 months.
The scheme, which aims to increase the area of land farmed organically in Ireland, includes an additional €5 million budget to take in new entrants. Participating farmers can potentially receive up to €15,000 per year. In 2021, an additional 12,000 ha were farmed organically and it’s expected that this will increase by a further 17,000ha this year due to the recent opportunity to apply to the scheme. According to the DAFM there has been a 35% increase in the area of land farmed organically in the last two years.
Minister Pippa Hackett says “it builds substantially on the 2021 reopening and I hope it will give confidence to more farmers to convert to organic farming.” Hackett adds that it’s extremely encouraging that farmers and their advisers are responding. “We’re committed to working with them to ensure that they get the maximum benefit under the scheme. ”
“The Organic Farming Scheme will again be open for applications in October this year and I would encourage all farmers interested in joining to attend a farm walk on an organic farm this summer in preparation for joining the scheme this autumn”, Hackett concludes.