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tractorpunk · Joined: 02 Jul 2009 Posts: 35 Location: east Galway

i'm wondering what it takes to become certified organic. i've heard something about a 3 year process, is this right? what do you need to qualify and, more important, is it worth it.
has anyone found that it is easier and more profitable to sell organic produce? i'm told there is grants that are available only for organic farmers, is this true.
i day dream that in a few years i might be selling meat etc. so i'd like to know should i be trying to get the ball rolling now if its such a long process.
anyone any advice?

wayland · Joined: 14 Dec 2006 Posts: 1164 Location: Campile. Wexford

I wish you good luck as always, but I have serious doubts about the whole idea. I sell veg and poultry at the local mart, and what seems to be more important to my customers is that what they buy is fresh and they trust where it comes from. I as a small producer object to paying the annual registration fee. This fee may well be absorbed buy those with many acres of production but not those with just a few. Being organic would mean less production, added to this the reg fee would put up the retail cost. To me food miles is a better selling point than being organic.
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tractorpunk · Joined: 02 Jul 2009 Posts: 35 Location: east Galway

annual registration fee? dont like the sound of that. i suppose i was thinking that if produce wasn't certified it would be harder to sell it, that maybe people expect food on a farmers market to be organic. i'm glad to hear you dont experience that.
is it an expensive process to qualify, are there a lot of constraints?

chook · Joined: 14 Mar 2007 Posts: 305 Location: North Clare

Talk to IOFGA and the Organic Trust (the two certifying bodies). They can talk you through the steps. Basically you need a conversion plan, have to apply for certification, get inspected, certified, comply with the certification body's standards, keep records, and pay an annual fee which covers the annual inspection but also buys you advice, exposure (listing as certified organic) and hopefully a price premium (depending on your products and marketing opportunities). Certification also allows you to draw down state support for the organic sector both in the form of hectarage payments and investment support (the scheme is closed as of late July 09 but I understand it is being revised and will be reopened). The conversion period is normally two years with higher levels of support paid during that time to buffer this period. So during the first two years you would be considered in-conversion, after that full-symbol.
But I agree with wayland, it's not necessarily worth it for the very small producers who sell locally to people who know and trust them.

HTH
chook

macconraoi · Posted: Sat Sep 19, 2009 8:18 pm Post subject:

I thought about it a few years ago and didn't think it was a runner for us.A good friend did go organic at the time and now as he says himself"the honeymoon is over" his biggest problem is paperwork and fertility dropping on his land.His first organic cereal crop was very good and has steadily dropped over the years.His red clover crop when cut needed 3 days wilting and the weather this year didn't allow that.He had an officer trawling through his paperwork to determine how much copper sulphate went for potato spray and how much for his sheep.Protein is very expensive organically and this was our biggest stumbling block as it would add a lot more to the price of finished pigs which people are not prepared to pay.

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