19 February 2023

Watch: Updating buildings for organic conversion in Co. Clare

Father and daughter partnership, Tadhg and Claire Halpin farm 70ha of free-draining land in Tulla, east Clare. In November 2022, they submitted an application to join the Organic Farming Scheme (OFS) – one of the over 2,000 applicants to do so.

The Halpins always had an interest in farming organically and with some encouragement from their local Teagasc advisor, Conor O’Reilly, they decided that organic farming was very compatible with their existing farming system.

On making the switch, Tadhg explained that the discussion on organics started during a REAP inspection, where the advantages and disadvantages of converting to organics were discussed.

“One of the main advantages was the increase in income and basically it’s better for the environment. I wanted to cut back a little bit on work and it all kind of came together,” he explained.

The Halpins have 20 suckler cows, with all progeny reared to fattening and they also purchase a further 20 weanlings, which are also taken to finish. This results in there being usually 100 head of cattle on the farm at any time.

All the suckler cows are outwintered and all other stock are currently housed on slats in two farmyards, which are located 100m apart. In the first farmyard, there is a four-bay slatted shed with no concrete lie back area. The Halpins intend to knock out two openings in the back wall and connect the slats to a newly-constructed lie back area. The proposed lie back area will be 7.6m deep and will be four bays in length. There will be space to accommodate 43 x 500kg animals in this shed when completed.

In the second farmyard, there is a four-bay slatted shed with a central feed passage with a row of slatted pens on either side. The slats on one side are connected to an existing straw bedded area, which can accommodate 14 weanlings with no remedial work required. The slats on the other side currently have no access to a lie back area, but there is an adjacent storage shed, which can be connected to the slats by cutting out two connecting openings in the walls of the respective sheds. The Halpins are willing to dedicate half of this shed to housing weanlings and, when complete, there will be accommodation for a further 28 weanlings on this side of the shed.

The Halpins estimate that the total cost of the proposed works will be in the region of €50,000, but when VAT is reclaimed and a 60% TAMS grant availed of, the net cost to them should be approximately €25,000. When you factor in that their first year’s payment in the OFS scheme will be €23,000, this doesn’t seem like a bad investment.

The Halpins featured as part of the Let’s Talk Organics webinar on converting beef housing to meet organic standards. For more information on organic farming, click here.