organic farming

Muckit · 29-01-2014 12:12am #1

Anyone looking in here into organic farming?

How are things going for you? It's an area l wouldn't mind knowing a bit more about, especially the beef side of things. It might not be viable for a small farmer in the west of Ireland though, would it?

You'd have to be fully self sufficient ie growing your own grain, feeding it to your own bred stock, bedding on straw. ..

Anyone make the switch from conventional or visa versa?

Good to keep all options open

f140 · 29-01-2014 12:27am

with the amount of fert I spread I would never do

exercise is the antidote · 29-01-2014 12:44am

What's the difference in stocking rate towards conventional farming I wonder?
I herd Glenisk are mad looking for people to get into organic milk too!

Mad4simmental · 29-01-2014 4:02am

Don't know much about it to be honist. I would have an interest like yourself. I had a good Chat with one of the nabougers a few months ago. He was one of the biggest sheep farmers in Ireland about five years ago. I would consider him a very good farmer. He was saying he was finding it unbelavible hard to get his lambs to killing condition. I'd love the idea of going down this road with sucklers but I'd say it would be just to hard to make a buck. Anyone know what price per kg cattel are making organic?

Mad4simmental · 29-01-2014 4:05am

I should have said he changed from normal farming practices to organic a few years ago.

micraX · 29-01-2014 8:21am

Look at last weeks ear to the ground on RTÉplayer

hugo29 · 29-01-2014 10:15am

Muckit wrote: »

Anyone looking in here into organic farming?

How are things going for you? It's an area l wouldn't mind knowing a bit more about, especially the beef side of things. It might not be viable for a small farmer in the west of Ireland though, would it?

You'd have to be fully self sufficient ie growing your own grain, feeding it to your own bred stock, bedding on straw. ..

Anyone make the switch from conventional or visa versa?

Good to keep all options open

Muckit

do you think its a viable option, would be interested to hear what info you find out, as you say keep the options open,
wonder how is it regulated and is one open to more inspections, paperwork etc

Farrell · 29-01-2014 12:07pm

hugo29 wrote: »

Muckit

do you think its a viable option, would be interested to hear what info you find out, as you say keep the options open,
wonder how is it regulated and is one open to more inspections, paperwork etc

Not in the organic, but know a few that are.
Was quoted:
Organic AAX weanlings were making more at Organic Autumn Sales than some farmers got with their CHX weanlings.
I didn't see either animals

rancher · 29-01-2014 7:40pm

micraX wrote: »

Look at last weeks ear to the ground on RTÉplayer

That was Pat Lalor, he really has made a success of organic farming, grows clover for silage to fix nitrogen in the soil, turns his farmyard manure to improve the quality/ kill weed seeds and now he's exporting his own porridge oats,
He also hosts farm visits as well

Neddyusa · 29-01-2014 9:30pm

rancher wrote: »

That was Pat Lalor, he really has made a success of organic farming, grows clover for silage to fix nitrogen in the soil, turns his farmyard manure to improve the quality/ kill weed seeds and now he's exporting his own porridge oats,
He also hosts farm visits as well

He also features in this video of several successful organic farmers around the country...well worth a look for anyone interested.

http://youtube.com/watch?v=M5SsKrTUmRQ

Markcheese · 29-01-2014 9:51pm

There's usually a few farm walks if your into that , there 's hobby organic farmers,throw a few sheep or rough cattle on a hill organic farmers and then there are the serious guys that could make a go of any farming enterprise...
if you've got good management skills and dont rely on the meal bag and can grow clover then go for it ...
In dairying it's all about market .., glenisk are mad looking for winter milk,hard to make money on that and what do you do in summer. None of the
co-ops ever got in on it, so very little
scale

Justjens · 30-01-2014 1:00am

Have a calf to beef enterprise that has been certified 18 years, has it's ups and downs, more paper work, more inspections but the plus side there is a little less work;) except when it comes to weed control:(

Have straw bedded slatted sheds, but fortunate enough to have easy access to straw and the fym is my fertiliser, plus the slurry. Always dig up the straw bed, and heap at the back of the shed at the end of each winter, heats nicely and rots down a good bit which means it breaks up on spreading.

Most are finished off grass, lucky to have a dry farm, and for the few finished during the winter I just have to bite the bullet and buy expensive meal.

Best to finish AA or HE, had difficulties with the LM. Best price last summer was €5.50/kg, and they have to be under 30mths, Quality Beef Assured too.

The OFS pays reasonably well, and I save by not having to spread fertiliser. You need a minimum stocking density of 0.5 lu/ha, I'm managing about 1.1 lu.

Any questions pm me, I don't want to give away too much information.....

goosey5 · 07-03-2014 1:06am

Muckit wrote: »

Anyone looking in here into organic farming?

How are things going for you? It's an area l wouldn't mind knowing a bit more about, especially the beef side of things. It might not be viable for a small farmer in the west of Ireland though, would it?

You'd have to be fully self sufficient ie growing your own grain, feeding it to your own bred stock, bedding on straw. ..

Anyone make the switch from conventional or visa versa?

Good to keep all options open

I made the switch in 2009! And havn't looked bac ! I grow my own wheat in a part of the country were extremly little tilage is done ! Had 7 acres of wheat in las year got 18 ton off it , sold 10.5 ton for €3800 i keep 30 sucklers with charolais bull sold year old bulls 1200 , beef price at mo is 4.95 flat for o r u grades ! And no probs gettin dem into da factory. They are now doing an organic veal at 8 months €3kg live weight

bogman_bass · 07-03-2014 12:10pm

biggest issue is the 2 year conversion period. You get all the disadvantages of organic with none of the bonuses

conor t · 07-03-2014 7:50pm

goosey5 wrote: »

I made the switch in 2009! And havn't looked bac ! I grow my own wheat in a part of the country were extremly little tilage is done ! Had 7 acres of wheat in las year got 18 ton off it , sold 10.5 ton for €3800 i keep 30 sucklers with charolais bull sold year old bulls 1200 , beef price at mo is 4.95 flat for o r u grades ! And no probs gettin dem into da factory. They are now doing an organic veal at 8 months €3kg live weight

did you grow wheat in 2012,if so how did it go? do you base variety selection all around septoria resistance? any weed problems?

goosey5 · 07-03-2014 9:45pm

conor t wrote: »

did you grow wheat in 2012,if so how did it go? do you base variety selection all around septoria resistance? any weed problems?

Grew spring barley in 12 , cause the combine man said oct 11 was to wet to plant ! Barley done 2 ton /ac in 12 but as with everyone's quality not great , harvest 11 done 2.5/ac of wheat , tested this years wheat 70 bush @16mo ! i rotate fields , i pick a field or 2 to reseed and plant wheat first and try to get wheat cut in aug and reseed as soon as pos ! Wheat grown on ley ground is easy to grow and nearly weed free , a key trick is to sow heavy 15/16st ac , i also get organic hen manure and plough it down 6-8 ton /ac and in the spring 3000gals / ac of cattle slurry thats all it needs !

goosey5 · 07-03-2014 9:49pm

Had a small patch of septoria in 11 but 13 clean using oakley seed and reusing for seed !

goosey5 · 07-03-2014 9:57pm

bogman_bass wrote: »

biggest issue is the 2 year conversion period. You get all the disadvantages of organic with none of the bonuses

Its not that bad , u would do nothing in farming if ya always needed a fast euro! 212€ /ha is good bonus for those years !

goosey5 · 07-03-2014 10:02pm

Organic cattle sale drumshanbo mart tomorrow

INOX · 08-03-2014 11:28am

Is straw bedding the only housing acceptable, or could cubicles be used for organic stock? Straw would work out expensive round here.

INOX · 08-03-2014 12:14pm

Is straw bedding the only housing acceptable, or could cubicles be used for organic stock? Straw would work out expensive round here.

Zr105 · 08-03-2014 3:53pm

INOX wrote: »

Is straw bedding the only housing acceptable, or could cubicles be used for organic stock? Straw would work out expensive round here.

Main reason that straw is preffered is purely that its good organic fertilizer/ organic matter to build up the soils!

Was on a walk in an organic farm last year and the thing that stood to it was massive grass management. All feilds that could be done were reseeded every 4-5 years and the rest over seeded.
The reseeding was done by ploughing then sowing a crop of corn(barley or oats i think) then over sown with grass. The grass took care of the weeds as much as possible, then the grain was cut early and crimped into pit to provide the "meal" for cattle and the grass and straw was mowed and baled for silage.

The feilds were then oversowed with a lower rate of grass and red clover.
The red clover needed serious management tho as it needs to be grazed tight to get the most out of it but if the root gets any damage it's gone..

The red clover awards were also baled for silage, i cant remember the exact figure but i know it was light cuts of super quality and the protein was through the roof thanks to the protein, it left it that very little meal would be needed along side the silage to finish cattle

Markcheese · 08-03-2014 6:58pm

INOX wrote: »

Is straw bedding the only housing acceptable, or could cubicles be used for organic stock? Straw would work out expensive round here.

You can use cubicles, you need to have more cubicles than cows, and they have to be plenty big enough for them with lunge room ect ...and have a certain amount feeding and standing space ect ...

BattyJoe · 15-10-2014 6:22pm

Hi Muckit,

did you ever do anymore about that organic?

im from west of Ireland too, and thinking about getting into it.

k mac · 01-05-2015 3:03pm

Anything had a look at this new scheme or any opinions on it. I see the closing date is the end of May.

blue5000 · 02-05-2015 4:29pm

goosey5 wrote: »

I made the switch in 2009! And havn't looked bac ! I grow my own wheat in a part of the country were extremly little tilage is done ! Had 7 acres of wheat in las year got 18 ton off it , sold 10.5 ton for €3800 i keep 30 sucklers with charolais bull sold year old bulls 1200 , beef price at mo is 4.95 flat for o r u grades ! And no probs gettin dem into da factory. They are now doing an organic veal at 8 months €3kg live weight

Goosey are you still on here, what was organic beef price like this spring?

trabpc · 02-12-2015 1:26am

Open again today for one month. Any takers?

eoinmk2 · 02-12-2015 4:01pm

seriously considering it, extra payments are a big incentive. weary about some of the extra paper work/inspections involved though.

any already organic farmers on here have any comments on it?

Nettleman · 02-12-2015 4:10pm

eoinmk2 wrote: »

seriously considering it, extra payments are a big incentive. weary about some of the extra paper work/inspections involved though.

any already organic farmers on here have any comments on it?

higher payment is one thing but need to pitch this against extra costs. like straw, organic meal, FYM storage, certification body annual fee. Can you farm your farm without fertiliser or sprays? I wonder could organic farmers be missing a trick here if theres future compensation for highly stocked conventional farmers to reduce emissions and organic already not using fert or sprays. theres is a representative association speaking for organic farmers at the moment, but no website and probably little or no financial backing to have an impact

kelslat · 02-12-2015 5:31pm

Lads are ye allowed vaccinate cows for lepto etc.. And is it true that you get a reduced payment for organic if you are in glas scheme.

Nettleman · 02-12-2015 5:49pm

kelslat wrote: »

Lads are ye allowed vaccinate cows for lepto etc.. And is it true that you get a reduced payment for organic if you are in glas scheme.

If you have lepto on your herd health plan, and theres a history of it at some point in the plan to justify a vacination programme, then yes, its allowed. Each Glas action specifies if theres a reduction in the organic payment or not - wild bird in glas means you dont get the organic payment for that land. the Glas specification doc on DAFM website says what hits your organic money and what doesnt-

organic farming

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