17 February 2023

Converting beef housing to meet organic standards

On this episode of Let’s Talk Organics, Elaine Leavy, Joe Kelleher and Martin Bourke, Teagasc Organic Specialists, discussed converting beef housing to meet organic standards.

The team were joined by Fergus Hanly, Co. Limerick, and Tadhg Halpin, Co. Clare, who shared their experiences of converting beef housing to meet organic standards. A questions and answers session took place at the end of the webinar.

Father and daughter partnership Tadhg and Claire Halpin farm 70Ha of free-draining land in Toonagh, Tulla, in east Clare. In November 2022, they submitted an application to join the Organic Farming Scheme. 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.

Fergus Hanly farms 30Ha of free-draining land on the banks of the river Deel just before it flows into the Shannon estuary. Fergus converted his farm to organic approximately 12 years ago. He operates a weanling to finishing beef system where he buys in approximately 35 weanlings in October/November and keeps them for 12 months, when they are sold off grass.

For more information about the Teagasc Organics Programme please visit www.teagasc.ie/organics or follow the programme on Twitter @TeagascOrganics