Applications

If you are interested in converting your holding to organic production or in processing, retailing or distributing a product to be labelled as ‘organic’, then follow the easy steps outlined below and your application will be underway.

If you intend to avail of payments in 2012 under the OFS (Organic Farming Scheme) which is due to re-open for applications before the end of February 2012, the application timescale is very limited, i.e. you must have your completed OFS application form, together with Business Plan and other documents, lodged with the Organic Unit of the Department of Agriculture, Food & the Marine by May 15th 2012 – at that time you must have already registered with an approved organic certification body such as the Organic Trust Ltd and be in the process of being inspected/certified by the Organic Trust Ltd so that your organic licence can be issued to you. Finally, you must also have completed or be in the course of completing the mandatory training course (i.e. a certificate of attendance for the course undertaken must be forwarded to the Organic Unit of DAFM by June 30th 2012).

Full details of the conditions of entry to the Organic Farming Scheme plus all the required documentation requirements will be fully outlined in our News & Events Section as soon as the scheme re-opens in 2012; it is anticipated that there will be some changes to the 2012 scheme rules.

22 official Organic Demonstration Farms have been approved by the Department of Agriculture,Food and the Marine and the farm walks/open days are organised by Teagasc - the dates of the official Open Days for 2012 will be published in the News & Events Section of our website as soon as they become available - walks usually commence in June and run right through to September in any year. The organic enterprises on each farm are also indicated, e.g. organic beef, dairy and lamb production; field-scale organic vegetables; organic pig, poultry and egg production; organic grain production; small-scale organic horticultural production and so forth.

For the 2012 walks we will provide detailed directions to each of the demonstration farms and also indicate the name of the Organic Trust official representative at each of these events - all of the Organic Trust representatives are Approved Inspectors who can provide you with detailed technical information on any aspect of organic production plus our free information pack. There is also a wealth of knowledge and information available from current practitioners at these events and we strongly recommend that as many of these Open Days/Farm Walks are attended as possible - they are open to both potential and current organic producers.

Potential processors (including importers, distributors, wholesalers and retailers) may wish to avail of the Organic Trust's competitively priced Adequacy Audit (contact Helen Scully in the office for details – 01 8530271).

Financial Assistance available to potential organic operators

The Department of Agriculture, Food & the Marine offers a range of financial incentives to assist those interested in getting involved in organic production. Details of the Organic Farming Scheme payments which apply to farmers and growers are available by clicking on any of the links below titled Organic Farming Scheme. Please note that changes to the scheme rules are anticipated for 2012 – we will provide the most up to date scheme rules as soon as they are published (circa end of February 2012).

In addition capital grants are available for the purchase of specific equipment – such grants apply to both producers and processors – the range of grants available are indicated under the On-Farm Grant and Off-Farm Grant headings below – simply click on the appropriate heading for full information – again these grants are under review, therefore, the most up to date position will be obtained by telephoning the Organic Unit of the Department of Agriculture, Food & The Marine at 053 91 63465.

    Steps to Take:

  1. Complete the relevant application form. Producers need to ascertain if they need an Advisor to help with the Conversion Plan; if so, a list of Recommended Advisors is available from the Organic Trust office (01 8530271) or download list here (1.37mb). If you feel confident enough to produce your own Conversion Plan, guidelines for the completion of such a plan are also available from the office (01 8530271) – these guidelines encompass all of the legislative requirements regarding such plans.
  2. Processors should ascertain if they feel they need the services of our Food Science Technologists in relation to their application – if so, contact the office and we will put you in contact with each other (01 8530271)
  3. Return the completed application form together with the Org.1 DAFM Registration Form (please complete page 1 only) and cheque for application fee (details of the relevant fees are available from 01 8530271) plus all of the other enclosures listed on the final page of the application form to the Organic Trust Ltd, Vernon House, 2 Vernon Avenue, Clontarf, Dublin 3.
  4. The Organic Trust will then arrange a timely inspection of your holding or premises. The Organic Trust ensure that the whole process is timely and efficient.
  5. Thereafter you will be inspected on an annual basis - unannounced spot checks also take place.

Organic Trust application forms

Application form for Processers

Application form for Retailers

Application form for Producers

Grant schemes available

Organic Farming Scheme - Application Form

Organic Farming Scheme - Terms and Conditions

Organic Farming Scheme - Business Plan Template

Organic Farming Scheme - Annual Declaration

Off farm grant notes

Off farm grant application

On farm grant notes

On farm application

Organic Trust standards manual.

Third Country Imports - Annexes

Standards Amendments Register

Standards manual

Organic Trust Feed, Seed Rules and Forms

Seed derogation

Seed rules

Feed derogation

Featured Member

Inishfree Organic is run by Tessa Marsden. This farm produces organic beef, lamb and organic vegetables. Inishfree Organic holding is located in Co.Sligo.

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Organic Trust Ltd - an EN45011 Accredited Certification Body