Ms Gillian Westbrook:

I sent a statement to the committee as required but I will give the committee a summary at this point, on account of time pressures. On behalf of the Irish Organic Farmers and Growers Association, I thank the Chairman and committee members for giving us the opportunity to come and speak today.

The complete land area under organic production in Ireland is 73,000 ha, which equates to just under 2% of agricultural land. Of that 2%, 94% is in permanent grassland and 2.2% is in cereal production. This is a very low ratio compared to organic livestock production and other processing requirements. We have a high dependency on imported cereals in order to meet specific market demands.

There are obvious opportunities for Irish tillage farmers to consider converting to organic production and we will highlight some of those to the committee this evening. Last year, the land area under organic tillage was just over 2,200 ha. Even though this is an increase of 650 ha on the previous year, it is not sufficiently large to keep up with demand. No tranche of the organic farming scheme has been opened since 2015 as, apparently, there is no funding available in the RDP but Ireland has an existing policy target of 5% organic production, although we only allocate sufficient funds to support 2% of production.

Even with the limited funding - we fully understand we need to work within budgets - the Irish Organic Farmers and Growers Association, IOFGA, firmly believes that a targeted scheme, which incidentally is 75% co-funded by the EU, needs to be reopened, especially if we are to supply the current deficit with home-grown product. Otherwise we rely on importing cereals that can be grown here, which is simply not economically sensible or sustainable.

Oats represent the largest organic cereal crop in Ireland, not barley, as is the case in the conventional sector. Oats account for 60% of organic cereal production, barley 13%, wheat 9% and protein crops 6%. Oats are a valuable cash crop, with over 50% going directly into porridge oatlets for a growing domestic and international market. The leading industry manufacturer has already stated it has at the very least a 2,000-tonne deficit every year to meet the current supply and requires much more product. There are also valuable industries using grain such as milling, brewing and distilling, all of which have a massive and growing demand for organic cereals. There is also a demand for organic protein crops. The protein aid scheme has boosted the production of protein crops. However, organic systems find it very difficult to grow a single protein crop. They tend to opt for a combi-crop whereby there is a mix of 40% to 50% protein. Nevertheless, it is once again an important source of protein to reduce dependence on imports.

IOFGA prepared a submission for the Minister of State, Deputy Doyle, which was very well received, requesting that organic farmers growing protein via combi-crops be paid a proportional support from the protein aid scheme as many fall outside the protein aid criteria. We look forward to seeing this introduced before the next growing season. Organic tillage production does not have the same high cost base associated with conventional tillage, naturally enough, as chemical inputs are not allowed. That said, the yields are lower in organic production, with an average yield of around 2.5 tonnes per acre - that is 5 tonnes per hectare - but with most organic crops returning a gross margin of between €700 and €1,000 per hectare, that is a profitable enterprise. In 2015 the organic farming scheme saw just over 500 new entrants to the sector, over 90% of whom were livestock farmers, increasing the feed demand significantly. We estimate that approximately 6,000 tonnes of organic grain are being produced in Ireland at present but we need an extra 10,000 ha of land to convert to organic farming even to begin to supply the current Irish demand, and that is not including future needs for farmers or processors. Therefore, the lack of supply is certainly a barrier to the expansion of the sector and one which has been identified in the national organic action plan.

Regarding future organic regulations, albeit not yet finalised, there will be more onus for feedstock to be sourced regionally, giving some market opportunities for home-grown organic grains. This, combined with compliance with high-level policy targets such as pesticide regulations and the Water Framework Directive - we will not even get into the impact of Brexit on trade - makes organic an attractive option for many tillage farmers. While there are economically sound opportunities to increase organic cereal production to meet the deficit in supply, a new targeted scheme is needed to respond to the rapidly increasing market and there is certainly a very clear indication that this issue will not go away.