вЂњOne peculiarity is that organic livestock is very important in Ireland but still represents 1% of the total livestock in the country,вЂќ Ms Panichi noted. The organic market in Ireland is worth в‚¬189m, Ms Panichi said. In terms of organic retail sales, the organic sector was worth almost в‚¬45bn in 2020, and the EU is the second single largest market after North America followed by Asia. вЂњCertain countries have already a substantial land occupied by organics, for instance, Austria, Sweden, and Estonia, but other countries lag behind also there are substantial differences in consumption.вЂќ вЂњAnother challenge is that the difference between the countries is really wide,вЂќ she noted.

Ms Panichi said there is a вЂњreal challenge in front of us, but are we ready to embraceвЂќ it, and described organics as вЂњone of the most dynamic sectorsвЂќ of agriculture. The Farm to Fork strategy has set a target of reaching 25% organic land in the EU by 2030. In the EU, organics occupy 9.1% of the total utilised agricultural area - and because of this, organic вЂњcannot be considered a niche anymoreвЂќ, according to Elena Panichi, head of organics unit, DG Agriculture and Rural Development, European Commission. In Ireland, about 2% of the land area is farmed organically, around 74,000 hectares, in 2020.

вЂњItвЂ™s not necessarily for everyone, but it does reflect that Ireland has a number of natural advantages which do fit really well with the organic sector and itвЂ™s certainly an opportunity for a number of producers there - be it in the beef, sheep and indeed some dairy producers,вЂќ Mr Burke added. вЂњTheyвЂ™re not necessarily heavy consumers of a lot of protein and in many cases theyвЂ™re not even eating a big helping of meat every day but where they are choosing to eat meat, they want that to be the highest possible quality that they can get their hands on,вЂќ Mr Burke saidДЄI Report: Steps to managing your breeding season вЂњThere is a specific cohort particularly in the developed economies like in Europe where you have people who are these so-called flexitarians.

вЂњBut at the same time, we have all of this population growth, weвЂ™ve globalisation or rather increasing affluence in many regions the crises including in Ukraine. вЂњLooking at global forecasts for the next five years, itвЂ™s projected that global meat demand will grow by about 2% per year which is a surprising figure when you think of people either choosing to eat more plant-based diets,вЂќ he said. He said if there is going to be an effect on the market, the number of farmers, especially dairy farmers needs to increase, and вЂњwe need processors who are out there looking for farms to convert to organics and that message has to be very strongвЂќ.Д«ord BiaвЂ™s Joe Burke said it is receiving feedback from existing customers of Irish organic beef and other products that they вЂњwould buy more if it is availableвЂќ. With the Organic Farming Scheme set to close to new applications in the coming weeks, and those who are accepted on the scheme doing a two-year conversion period, Mr Purcell said the processor can вЂњestimate ourselves how many cattle will that represent in two yearsвЂ™ time so we have plenty lead time to get our markets establishedвЂќ.ДЄt the moment, the premium is about 15%, he said.Дairy farmer John Kiersey said farmers вЂњneed encouragement from processors, demanding that they want more organic food if theyвЂ™re going to get farms to buy into organicsвЂќ.

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