SHARING OPTIONS:
Cattle and sheep farmers have again been marginalised in the latest call for applications to the organic scheme, according to the ICSA.\David Ruffles
Drystock farmers must not be discriminated against in any future rounds of the Organic Farming Scheme, Irish Cattle and Sheep Farmers Association (ICSA) organics chair Fergal Byrne has said.
Byrne was speaking at a meeting between Minister of State Pippa Hackett an ICSA representatives on Tuesday (9 February).
“Cattle and sheep farmers have again been marginalised in the latest call for applications to the scheme, he said.
“This is very discouraging, and clearly out of step with wider ambitions to vastly increase the proportion of land devoted to organic production across Europe by 2030. ICSA believes that drystock farmers must not be discriminated against in any future rounds of the organics scheme.”
Feeding wwes silage on an organic farm in Co Galway \ David Ruffles
There has been a cautious welcome from farm organisations to news that the organics scheme is to be reopened for applications in early March.
Minister of State Pippa Hackett announced that funding was available for up to 500 more farmers to join the scheme on top of the 1,500 existing participants.
The IFA has warned that the reopening must not see widespread rejections of farmers.
IFA organics chair Nigel Renaghan said: The scheme last re-opened in November 2018 for four weeks. Seventy-five percent of applicants were refused admission due to a flawed points-based system, which discriminated against smaller land-based applicants.
Devising a solution to the BEAM conundrum, securing funds for the sheep sector and protecting farmers during inspections were among the burning issues at the Irish Cattle and Sheep Farmers Association (ICSA) AGM and annual conference.
The event was held virtually on Thursday evening, giving farmers a chance to engage with Minister for Agriculture Charlie McConalogue.
BEAM
ICSA beef chair Edmund Graham confronted the Minister about the BEAM scheme: “The Department have failed us on this. Department officials have failed us because they haven t been able to come and give us the figures and that s where the problem lies.
“It s not that the farmers aren t willing to participate in this scheme. They will do, but they can t. I have had Teagasc advisers on to to me, I have private farm planners on to me, and they are really struggling.