Greener pastures for organic farmers

"PERHAPS BSE will come to be seen as one example - albeit a very expensive and damaging one - of how nature hits back when we violate her laws," commented Prince Charles. He's an advocate of organic farming whose estate at Highgrove has been run organically, and at a profit, for 11 years.

All over Europe, organic farming is expanding, less so in Ireland even though most Irish farmers could easily make the transition, according to Hugh Robson, an organic farmer from Glencarn, north Clare. He's involved mainly in organic beef production, breeding calves and finishing animals. They are taken to a local abattoir, killed and hung before being blast-frozen and marketed using a box system. Each box selling at £50 contains different elements of the carcass, such as steak, roast and mince. He has increased his production tenfold and now has about 100 cattle and 30 pigs.

"I cannot keep up with demand. That is within Ireland. There's a large demand outside Ireland if we could reach the export stage." One problem is maintaining continuity of supply. "It's no good being able to supply a supermarket for eight months of the year."

As chairman of the Irish Organic Farmers' and Growers' Association, Robson reports that organic lamb, beef and pork are achieving success in Irish supermarkets. It has not been easy. The Department of Agriculture has facilitated an organic consultative committee which includes other State agencies, but financial support for the sector has been a paltry £1 million in five years. Inc Denmark, a country not dissimilar to Ireland, the equivalent figure is £100 million.

Many want to embrace the organic principle but, despite Teagasc's help, training is difficult to obtain and there is insufficient research back-up. Some EU countries have up to 20 per cent organic production but Ireland lags behind.

Every organic farm is inspected a minimum of once a year by qualified inspectors, approved by the department. They report to an independent, expert panel with the power to withdraw a licence or apply penalties.

Robson would like to think organic products are safer but prefers to highlight that it's a different production system. "We don't use the chemicals and medicines of conventional farming ... We're not saying we're better. We are producing something different, that people want."