Applications for the 2026 Organic Farming Scheme are open until Friday, 12th December 2025.

Find out more about the scheme, and download the presentation from our 2024 webinar for horticultural growers on applying for the Organic Farming Scheme and related grant aid schemes, led by Mary Lynch, Organic Specialist with the Agricultural Consultants Association.

In October 2025, OGI, in partnership with Bord Bia, brought 16 Irish organic growers on an action-packed UK Farm Research Trip, visiting three very different organic enterprises over two days.

Read the full reports to explore the farms, their practices and key takeaways from this immersive grower-to-grower learning exchange

Presentations
Introduction – Deirdre Fay
Address by Minister of State Michael Healy Rae TD
16:50 – Sinead Mulcahy (DAFM)
35:30 – Kevin McGeever (DAFM)
1:00:30 – Jim Cronin
1:22:10 – John Hogan
2:20:30 – Education & Advisory Panel: Mary Lynch (ACA), John Mulhern (Teagasc), Una Wycherley (OGI), Sean McGloin (NOTS) & Peter Lennox (Skillnet Ireland)
2:55:15 – Emmet Doyle (Bord Bia)
3:33:15 – Marketing Panel: Carmel Biggane (Super Valu), Kenneth Keavey (Green Earth Organics) & John O’Regan (Begley’s Fresh Produce)

Presentation Slides (PDF)
1. Market Gardening, Money & Family – Jim Cronin
2. The Organic Farming Scheme – Jack Nolan, DAFM
3. BISS & Area Based Schemes  – Ciara Conlon, DAFM
4. Registration as a Food Business Operator (Horticulture) – Niamh Kellaghan, DAFM
5. Scheme of Investment Aid for the Development of the Commercial Horticulture Sector – Sinead Mulcahy, DAFM
6. Advisory Services for Horticulture – What’s Available & Access to Advice – William Deasy, Teagasc
7. Irish Market Organic Consumer Research  – Emmet Doyle, Bord Bia.

Future of Organic Seed Production in Ireland
October 2024
Report commissioned by NOTS examining the current status, challenges and future of organic seed production in Ireland, published in October 2024.

Maximizing Organic Production Systems
December 2021
Maximizing Organic Production Systems (MOPS) was a European Innovation Partnership (EIP) Operational Group project led by the Irish Organic Association between 2018 and 2021. The project worked with 11 organic growers around the country to devise comprehensive cropping plans to optimise production and support the continuity of supply in line with growing market demands.

Part Time Farming
July 2025
This report from Ben Raskin – who headlined our 2024 Conference – summarises the results of research into part-time farming undertaken in 2024, which included feedback from a number of Irish growers and farmers.

Eliot Coleman
A series of essays by Eliot Coleman – Author of ‘The New Organic Grower‘, ‘Four-Season Harvest‘ and ‘The Winter-Harvest Manual‘.
⦁ An old-time opinion from an old organic farmer
⦁ Soil-grown vs soil-less food production
⦁ The New Truth
⦁ Without Organic, Just Regenerative Isn’t Enough
⦁ Questions for Organic Farmers to Discuss

Andy Dibben
It’s not just about bees. Insects managed correctly in agriculture transform quickly from being a pest to being a powerful tool, explains Andy Dibben.
⦁ It’s not just about the bees!