Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 20 April 2023
98. Deputy Aindrias Moynihan asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine if grant aid could be made available to support farmers to meet organic farming requirements; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [18537/23]
View answerUnder the new CAP, I secured a budget of €256m for the organic sector with the aim of building upon existing growth and developing the sector further. This is a five-fold, or 500%, increase compared to the budget for the previous scheme.
The 2023 OFS Budget sees funding of €37 million for the Organic Farming Scheme - an 80% increase on last year. This allocation will facilitate the enhanced payment rates which I introduced as well as the introduction of a new participation payment for farmers, to support the maintenance and conversion to Organic Farming.
The new enhanced OFS rates that apply from 1st January 20223 are a significant increase on what were in place previously. Drystock, tillage dairy and horticulture producers will receive a payment of €300, €320, €350,and €800/ha/annum respectively for years one and two to cover conversion and maintenance with slightly lower rates applying in years three to five.
These rates provide a significant support for farmers. As an example, for a 40ha drystock farmer total payment over the five years of the organic farming scheme will be 54% higher than under the previous CAP. The new Participation rate of €2,000 for year one of conversion and €1,400 helps mitigate the cost of organic licensing and increased administration, removing what was a financial impediment to potential participants.
There has been a very strong uptake in the Organic Farming Scheme over the last two years especially in the most recent tranche which saw 3,423 eligible applications received. Of these, 2,131 are new to the Organic Farming Scheme and the remaining 1,292 applications representing those whose contracts finished on 31st December 2022. All eligible applications received approval in February 2023 for a five year contract.
It is my intention to also open this scheme to new applicants before the end of this year.
I can also confirm that the Organic Capital Investment Scheme (OCIS) under TAMS has reopened this week to further assist farmers in upgrading their infrastructure and machinery to develop and change their farming systems to productive organic farms. It is a significant support for farmers in meeting organic farming requirements. Grant aid under this scheme will be available at the higher rate of 60% compared to the standard 40%.
In addition to the above financial supports my Department has recently announced significant financial support for the Agricultural Consultants Association and to Teagasc which will make sure the necessary technical advice is available to new and existing organic farmers. Farm walks have already commenced for this year and will be a strong feature of the advisory support package.
I am confident the package of measures I have detailed above will enable us to meet our Climate Action Plan target of 10% of land area farmed organically by 2030.
Organic farming isn't a niche or a fad, it will grow and develop in the coming years. The sky is the limit for this exciting sector.
