The Irish Organic Association (IOA) is a member-owned not-for-profit company that has been at the forefront of the organic movement in Ireland for the past 40 years, and actively involved in the European organic movement. As part of the OrganicClimateNET consortium, the IOA is the national coordinator for hubs in Ireland. Since the inception of the project, the IOA team has been concentrating on building the Organic Climate Network in Ireland, focussing on initial engagement with all participating farmers.
The Farmers
Approximately 5% of Ireland’s farmland is under organic production, with 5,000 farms and 225,000 organic hectares. The network in Ireland is split into three hubs: 1. Northern and Western, 2. Eastern and Midland and 3. Southern. The number of participating farms is split equally between each hub with a broad reach of criteria developed to create a network to best represent the larger organic consortium.
Over 30 Organic Farmers agreed to participate in the network. The farms are a mix of new and existing organic farmers, comprising of a mix of land uses, with permanent grasslands, temporary grasslands, arable land and woodlands. There is a mix of enterprise types with mixed enterprises comprising of the most farms (livestock and tillage) followed by dairy, tillage and beef or lamb. Farms are dispersed geographically with a mix of inter-generational enterprises and with some farms previously or currently involved with other research projects.
Figure 1. OrganicClimateNET Farm participant/hub member in the East Midlands with an Organic Beef enterprise.
The Hubs
Dedicated hub coaches were assigned to each hub, to create a single contact point for farmers facilitating a communication pathway with the project team and ensuring efficient collection of information.
Following initial contact, the team set out immediately to meet the organic farmers, visiting each participating farm to discuss the project and the farmers role in it; answering any further questions they have and capturing all suggestions, inputs and hopes the farmers expressed from their participation in the project.
In July, the IOA brought participants from all hubs together in an online webinar, to present the project team, the hub coaches, and other participating farmers for the first time. The webinar aimed to communicate information on the project and carbon farming. The event was successful, with participants engaged and enthusiastic from this early stage, raising questions and queries important for the project team to capture throughout the next 48 months.
Figure 2. Organic Climate Net Farm participant/hub member South East with an Organic Dairy and Tillage enterprise.
In Autumn, the IOA team organised some regional events on three participating farms to introduce some practical examples of carbon farming assessments on organic farms, gathering expertise and input from the farmers own-farm experience. Over the coming months the Irish Organic Association will continue to engage with participating farmers and other agri-food stakeholders interested in climate action on organic farms.
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