Organic Farming

Flahavans

An important user of organic oats grown in Ireland is Flahavans, a family business now in its sixth generation. There has been an oats mill at Kilmacthomas, Co Waterford since the late 1700's. An oatflaking facility was added in 1935. Today Flahavan's Progress Oatlets is an increasingly popular choice for breakfast in Ireland and abroad. Flavahans dominates the warm breakfast category in Ireland with their famous porridge and the company is also growing their exports to the UK and USA (www.flahavans.com).

Copyright Irish Farmers Journal

Flahavans
Copyright Irish Farmers Journal

Flahavans

An important user of organic oats grown in Ireland is Flahavans, a family business now in its sixth generation. There has been an oats mill at Kilmacthomas, Co Waterford since the late 1700's. An oatflaking facility was added in 1935. Today Flahavan's Progress Oatlets is an increasingly popular choice for breakfast in Ireland and abroad. Flavahans dominates the warm breakfast category in Ireland with their famous porridge and the company is also growing their exports to the UK and USA (www.flahavans.com).

Copyright Irish Farmers Journal

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Organic Farming is a specific system of farming that aims to produce quality food in a manner beneficial to the environment and to wildlife. Organic farmers practice farming in accordance with standards, which have been formulated for crop and livestock production. The thrust of these standards is to develop a system of farming that co-exists with other systems, sustains soil fertility and protects the environment, wildlife and non-renewable resources. The use of pesticides and herbicides is prohibited (www.organic-trust.org)

There are currently 2,127 operators (72,000 ha of land) under organic production in Ireland. This is much lower than the average in Europe, which had 12.6 million hectares of agricultural land used for organic farming by 2017. Iceland and Malta were the only countries with less land designated as organic than Ireland in 2017. Over the past decade EU organic area has increased by 70%. For full European data, see the EU Organic webpage and EuroStat. 

Glenisk

Glenisk in Co Offaly use up to 90% of the organic milk produced in Ireland for their range of dairy products, including yogurt and fresh milk. It is run by the Cleary family at Killeigh in Co Offaly. The company sources organic milk from around 50 Irish dairy farmers that are certified organic. This means no chemicals, pesticides or antibiotics are used in the production of milk or any other ingredient.

Copyright Irish Farmers Journal

Glenisk
Copyright Irish Farmers Journal

Glenisk

Glenisk in Co Offaly use up to 90% of the organic milk produced in Ireland for their range of dairy products, including yogurt and fresh milk. It is run by the Cleary family at Killeigh in Co Offaly. The company sources organic milk from around 50 Irish dairy farmers that are certified organic. This means no chemicals, pesticides or antibiotics are used in the production of milk or any other ingredient.

Copyright Irish Farmers Journal

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Organic farming

Farmers interested in converting to organic status should contact the Irish Organic Farmers and Growers Association (IOFGA), which provides certification for farmers, growers, processors and retailers (www.iofga.org). Consumers purchasing products that claim to be organic should check that it carries the required certification.

The Department of Agriculture has a dedicated section on organic farming.

The majority of organic milk produced in Ireland is sold through Glenisk, which is run by the Cleary family from Killeigh in Co Offaly. Fresh milk and yogurt are the main products of this award winning company (www.glenisk.com). Other major users of organic milk are cheesemakers, such as Kate Carmody’s Beal Organic Cheese, Ralph Haslam’s Mossfield (www.mossfield.ie).