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Organic Farming Scheme
The
Organic Farming Scheme
is designed to support farmers during conversion to organic production
and to support continued organic production. The scheme was
revised during 2007 and now provides additional support for growing
horticultural and fruit crops.
Support and guidance is available for farmers wishing to
consider organic conversion, through the Organic Conversion Information
Service (OCIS). Follow the
link for more information.
May 2008
Organic Farming Scheme (OFS)
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The revised Organic Farming Scheme is now open for applications.
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If you wish to join the scheme you must complete and return an application form
(from your Divisional Office).
This form registers interest, but does not make a commitment to
entering the scheme. It should be returned before the 15 May
on which you wish to claim, and you must also make your claim on
your Single Application Form
(SAF - was IACS).
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Once your application is accepted you will be sent an invitation
to join the scheme together with full scheme terms and
conditions.
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To receive any OFS payment you have to claim on the SAF -
tick Q 11 in Section 2 and in Section 8 tick under the organic
column for each field. You must provide your organic
certificate and field schedule to verify your claim. The
field schedule must provide Sheet and field numbers so they can
be checked against the SAF form, or your payment will be
delayed.
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There are number of
significant
improvements to the Organic Farming Scheme including additional
horticultural support and the removal of dual funding with Tir
Gofal.
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See our
Factsheet for further information.
Payment rates
The rates of payment vary according land use and
are summarised below:
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Annual Payment Rates per hectare |
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Conversion rate |
Organic rate |
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Initial payment |
£1,000 |
£500 |
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up to 300 hectares: |
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Grassland |
£150 |
£40 |
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Arable crops |
£150 |
£60 |
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Horticultural crops |
£150 |
£200 |
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Top Fruit & permanent
crops |
£200 |
£200 |
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300+ hectares, Extensive Grassland and Grazed
Woodlands * |
£20 |
£10 |
* Extensive grassland is defined as: Permanent grassland
in parcels 25ha** or over in SDA and Heathlands; Natural
Regeneration; Reed beds / swamps; Saltmarshes; Bracken; Scrub
including gorse bushes and briar.
Any farmer not currently making
claims on the Single Application Form (SAF) will need to register
with their Divisional Office to claim their Organic Farming Scheme
payments as they must now be made on the SAF(IACS).
This
information is subject to confirmation in Welsh Assembly Government
literature and should not be used for business planning.
The Assembly is currently working on a
review of all Agri-Environment Schemes which is likely to take effect
from 2009/10. This is the 'Axis 2 review' or 'Land Management Schemes
review' proposed in the new Rural Development Scheme
for 2007-2013 currently being assessed in Brussels. Organic Centre
Wales is contributing to the discussions. It is likely that there will
be a consultation on recommendations during 2008.
Tir Gofal
Applications for Tir Gofal were invited in November 2006
(see Assembly press release).
1,444 applications were received and are now being processed.
Farmers may be in both Tir Gofal and the Organic Farming
Scheme. There will no longer be deductions made to the second scheme
joined as there were in the past.
Tir Cynnal
This Welsh entry-level agri-environment scheme (see
Assembly Information) is available to organic farmers in addition to
the Organic Farming Scheme, and is entirely compatible with organic
management. The Organic Strategy Group are pressing for an
'organic' version of Tir Cynnal to reduce administration costs and
bureaucracy.
The first applications for the were made on the
2006 Single Application Form (SAF).
Farmers will be able to apply on the 2008 SAF. See Assembly
Q&A (Welsh
Q&A) for further information.
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Following the
Welsh Assembly Elections in 2007 and agreement on the
coalition cabinet, Organic farming falls under the remit of
the Minister for Rural Affairs,
Elin Jones.
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The need for a second Organic Action Plan was identified
in 2003 and it was launched in July 2004.
See press release.
The second Action Plan for Wales focuses more on
developing the market for organic products, so that an increased
land area target is pursued in the context of market development.
Delivery of the Action Plan is the responsibility of all
organic stakeholders in Wales. If you would like to be
involved, please contact Sue
Fowler at Organic Centre Wales.
For a comparison with the European Action Plan, click
here
In 2008 the Action Plan is
being reviewed to fit with the new Food and Drink Strategy which is
being drafted by Food and Markets Development Division of the Welsh
Assembly Government.
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The European
Council
Regulation on support for Rural Development from the European Agriculture
Fund of Rural Development (EAFRD) sets the framework for rural
development support programmes including agri-environmental and Leader schemes for the
current EU
financial perspective (2007 –2013).
The
Wales RDP has now (20 February) been accepted by Brussels.
Axis 1 – Improving the competitiveness of the Agricultural and
Forestry Sector
Axis 2 –
Improving the Environment and the Countryside
Axis 3 – The
Quality of Life in Rural Areas and Diversification of the Rural
Economy
Axis 4 - LEADER
AXIS 1
Applications to the Processing and Marketing and Supply Chain
Efficiency grant schemes (under Axis 1) may now be submitted.
OCW is working with organic sectoral businesses to apply for Supply
Chain Efficiency funding to support the organic sector in Wales.
If you would like to be involved please contact
Nic Lampkin or
Sue Fowler.
AXIS 2
See above for information on the Organic Farming
Scheme, which falls under Axis 2 of the RDP.
AXES 3 & 4
Organic Centre Wales has provided an information page on accessing
Rural Development Plan funds under Axes 3 and 4: see:
http://www.organic.aber.ac.uk/markets/rdp07.shtml
Full details, scheme guidance and
accompanying Annexes and Guidance Notes can be found on the Assembly’s
website. Back
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Link to
OCW page on organic standards and
certification
Organic Farming is regulated through a
European Regulation. See the current consolidated Regulation
here. This regulation is implemented in the UK through the
compendium for organic standards.
On 6 May 2008 an amending
Regulation was passed concerning the authorisation of spinosad,
potassium bicarbonate and copper octanoate, and the use of ethylene.
From 1 January 2009 the European
regulation governing organic food and farming will be
EC 834/2007.
The review of the regulation followed from recommendations in the
European Action Plan.
Defra is hosting regular stakeholder meetings during 2008 to work
through the detailed rules for the implementation of the new Council
Regulation. For further information contact
Sue Fowler
It is the intention that the Annexes of
the Regulation 2092/92 will be transferred without substantial
technical changes, the negotiations to draft the text for the new
annexes are ongoing (Spring 08). With the exception of the import
regulation, the
proposed new Regulation is likely to come into force on 1st January
2009.
IFOAM maintains an
Info page with up-to-date information on the revision
of the European Regulation, including a press release commenting on
the latest draft. This provides comprehensive information
service on the revision of the organic regulation. You can
access all important official (and less official) documents from
this website, all documents from IFOAM EU (starting from the EU
Action Plan), the position of EU-level and national stakeholders,
research projects, Presidency compromise papers etc. More
information will be added as the process proceeds.
The Organic Revision Project (Research to support revision of the EU
Regulation on organic agriculture) supported by the EU Commission
under the Sixth Framework Programme (Priority 8.1). See
www.organic-revision.org for further information.
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Note: the derogation for using
non-organic feeds for herbivores ended 31 December 2007.
From 1 January 2008 ruminants must be fed 100%
organic diets.
For other species, a gradually
declining maximum is permitted:
- 10% from 1st January 2008 to 31st December 2009,
- 5% 1st January 2010 to 31st December 2011.
The figures are to be calculated annually as a percentage
of the dry matter of feedingstuffs from agricultural
origin. Maximum daily intake would be 25% by dry matter.
See the OCW
factsheet
(Welsh) |
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See also item on
proposals for Regulation changes
OCW is involved in two projects relating to evaluating the
sustainability of organic farms.
"Fit for the Future?"
The first is a project funded through Farming Connect with aims to
engage farmers with the concept of assessing their delivery of public
goods, using a 'quiz' format in the hope that they will become
interested enough to put some effort into environmental benchmarking,
which will require more time and effort to gain worthwhile and robust
results.
This quiz is now available to complete on-line - see
www.fit4future.org.uk - you
can complete in Welsh or English, and you will be
able to compare your results with other farmers. If you prefer to
look at a hard copy, a
paper version is available: click
here.
The second is a research project funded by Defra (OF0348)
through Elm Farm Organic Research
Centre which aims to develop environmental benchmarking for use as
a tool at farm level to deliver improvements in environmental
performance for organic farms.
The project aims to produce a
flexible tool that can supplement and be integrated with financial
benchmarking systems and to enable monitoring of year-on-year progress
as well as comparisons within groups of farms.
Contact Sue
Fowler for more information.
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Dr Pip Nicholas of
IBERS (Institute Biological, Environmental and Rural Sciences, Aberystwyth University) which is a partner
in OCW, is on the Assembly Government's Steering Committee for the Animal
Health and Welfare Strategy. She has prepared a note on the impact
of the Strategy on organic farmers in Wales (click here).
The priority list for actions for 2007/08 are
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1 |
Parasitology |
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2 |
TB |
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3 |
Bluetongue
& Contingency Planning for Animal Disease, e.g. Avian Influenza |
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4 |
Endemic
Diseases in farmed livestock (BVD, Johne's disease, respiratory
disease in cattle, rotavirus, salmonella) |
For more information, see:
www.wales.gov.uk
See the
Welsh Assembly Government site for the latest
information. Dr Pip Nicholas is on the Welsh Assembly
Government's Steering Committee for the Animal Health and
Welfare Strategy which has taken responsibility for the TB
eradication programme in Wales.
Following a positive test on a home bred sheep in Dorset in
February 2008,
some of Wales is now in a Bluetongue Restricted Zone - See
the latest on Bluetongue on the Welsh Assembly Government
website .
The
National
Sheep Association in conjunction with the Assembly held a series of
meetings on sheep scab in early 2007. The meetings
served to highlight the concerns among organic sheep farmers
over treatment options now that the marketing licence for
cypermethrins has been withdrawn by the Veterinary Medicines
Directorate (VMD).
The Organic Strategy group discussed the issue in January,
but no clear route forward was identified. Many
consumers do not want OPs used on organic livestock, and
many farmers do not want to use OPs; however cypermethrins
are so difficult to use without causing pollution, that it
is not clear they can be re-introduced.
OCW met with other organic stakeholders and the VMD
in London on 2nd March, prior to a UK wider forum on sheep
scab meeting on 5th March.
The Standards sub-group of the Organic Strategy Group
met in June to discuss the results of an
HCC survey on
ectoparasites that was carried out in late 2006. OCW has
prepared a factsheet on the information gathered and is
running events for farmers in Winter/Spring 2008 (see
events).
tp://
The standards
The EU Regulation and the UK
ACOS Compendium governing organic farming allow the use of
OPs. The following is an extract from the
Compendium:
5.5 (c) animal treatment
products involving the use of organophosphates are permitted
for controlling ectoparasites only when, prior to their use,
the operator has demonstrated to the satisfaction of the
inspection body that a suitable alternative is nota
available and that other management techniques and inputs
can be expected not to be effective.
The Soil Association,
therefore affecting those licensed with Soil Association
Certification Limited, however, do not allow their symbol to
be used on livestock treated with of OPs.
For treatment options see the
checklist produced by the NSA
This page has been prepared by Sue
Fowler - please provide any feedback or comments directly.
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