Some 210 organic farmers are waiting to receive the remainder of their 2016 Organic Farming Scheme (OFS) payment.

The issue of timely payments is an area of growing concern for organic producers, as farmers will not be able to receive their 2017 OFS payment until they’ve received the balance on their 2016 payment.

Frustration over repeated annual payment delays has been increasing in the organic community, with the Organic Farmers Representative Body stating that organic farmers were being “discriminated against”.

The organic scheme is worth €220/ha for the first two years and €170/ha on the subsequent three years, with a total of €9.77m issued in 2016.

The Department said the previous year's payment must be completed before the essential payment data required, such as land parcel details, are moved forward into the 2017 year, and has attributed the delay in payments to an IT glitch.

To date, 1,642 organic farmers received a total of €10.53m in 2016, and 1,112 farmers have received a total of €5.30m in 2017.

The Department maintains that payments are ongoing and will be updated as they are processed.

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Organic farmers still waiting on 2016 payments

A number of organic farmers are still waiting on their 2016 payments to be issued by the Department of Agriculture.