Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 5 October 2021
743. Deputy Matt Carthy asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the number of farmers approved for the organic farming scheme in September 2021; if such holdings were horticultural, tillage or other; the mean, median, and mode of these holdings; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [47584/21]
Amharc ar fhreagraMy colleague, Minister of State Hackett, announced the opening of the Organic Farming Scheme(OFS) earlier this year. A total of 317 applications were received by the closing date for the 2021 Organic Farming Scheme. I am pleased to advise that 261 OFS approval letters have already issued to applicants and further approvals will continue to issue.
The total number of hectares included in these approved applications to date amounts to 13,206ha, with the average farm size of just under 51ha. The remaining applicants have been contacted by my Department to resolve outstanding issues in relation to their applications. Approvals will continue to issue upon resolution of the issues concerned.
The holdings which are the subject of the approvals to date are broken down as follows:
|
No of farmers |
Main Enterprise |
Approx Ha under this enterprise |
Average farm size Ha |
|
103 |
Beef |
5,900 |
57 |
|
12 |
Dairy |
623 |
52 |
|
6 |
Forage |
256 |
43 |
|
55 |
Horticulture |
2,296 |
42 |
|
34 |
Mixed |
1,651 |
49 |
|
10 |
Poultry |
345 |
34 |
|
32 |
Sheep |
1,797 |
56 |
|
9 |
Tillage |
338 |
38 |
