The programme for government set a target of 7.5% of Ireland’s utilisable agricultural land to be farmed organically, while the EU has set a Farm to Fork target for 25% of EU farmland to be farmed organically by 2030.

The Department of Agriculture has proposed a new Organic Farming Scheme similar to the existing scheme, with a five-year area-based scheme consisting of two years of a conversion payment and three years of a lower maintenance payment.

The rate of aid will vary across sectors. Higher rates will be paid for horticultural operations (including fruit), for tillage operations, and for dairy operations, all of which are strongly in deficit.

Farmers must have a minimum farm area of 3ha or 1ha in the case of horticulture farms.

As with other measures the financial allocations are not defined yet.

Priority access will also be given to organic farmers to the Agri-Environment Climate Measure (AECM).