In my role as Minister of State at the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine, I am delighted that 317 farmers have applied to convert to organic farming under the Department of Agriculture organics scheme which closed last weekend.
If all those who applied are eligible and go ahead and convert, we will see an increase of more than 20% in the number of famers who will farm organically in Ireland supported by the Department’s Organic Farming Scheme. So between that and the geographical spread of applications being so broad, the indications are very positive.
The breakdown by sector, and the land area involved, will only be available when the farmers’ 2021 Basic Payment Scheme applications are lodged later this month, but I’m very hopeful that all types of farming will be well represented. I also expect that we should be able to accommodate all the eligible farmers who wish to go ahead, subject to their applications meeting the criteria.