Organic farming

Organic farming is critical to the sustainability and future of farming in Ireland and can lead to higher revenue for farmers who are increasingly under pressure. Ireland is in a unique position to provide high quality, sustainable produce for ourselves and the rest of the world. If we focus on quality, ethics and reducing carbon emissions we can carve out new market shares and protect farmers and their families.

Despite Ireland’s agricultural heritage, Ireland is currently an organics laggard in the EU. According to Organics Europe, figures indicate that Austria currently leads the way in Europe with 25% of farmland being farmed organically, with Estonia and Sweden close behind. In comparison Ireland stands at 2%, the second lowest in Europe.

Green Party Minister of State for Land Use and Biodiversity, Senator Pippa Hackett aims to increase the level of organically farmed land in Ireland to 7%. She announced a €5m increase in funding for organic farming in 2022, allowing the organic farming scheme to open for new entrants in response to high demand in 2021. The total budget of €23m marks a doubling of the organic sector budget since the Green Party entered government.

As a result of the funding to date, an additional 12,000 hectares were farmed organically in 2021 and it is expected that this will increase by a further 17,000 hectares in 2022. The 29,000 new hectares represents a 35% increase in the area of land farmed organically in the last two years.

The Green Party has put a renewed focus on biodiversity on the farm, and last year a large number of on farm biodiversity projects were funded, bringing farmers and communities together. There has also been increased funding for the National Biodiversity Data Centre to allow them to establish the Farmland Pollinator Monitoring Programme to collect data on pollinators, as well as funding soil health monitoring, biodiversity studies on farm, and crops such as multi-species swards which also deliver for biodiversity above and below ground.