A measure of the growth in organic farming in Ireland has been the response to the sale of young organic cattle which will be held in Drumshanbo, Co Leitrim, on October 1st.
Organised by the Leitrim Organic Farmers' Co-operative Ltd, to date nearly 200 young cattle have been entered in the sale, which will also have sheep on offer.
The secretary of the co-op, Mr Martin Reading, said yesterday that he was pleased with the number of animals being offered at this, the first such sale in Connacht.
"There has been one other such sale in Kerry and it was very successful and another is planned for Kilfenora, Co Clare, on October 9th," he said.
"The demand for organic beef is very strong, not just in Ireland but in Britain and Europe, and if it is available it will be sold at a premium of up to 20 per cent," he said.
"The greatest problem we have here in this country is that we cannot guarantee continuity of supply because we do not have the stock levels necessary for that," he said.
Mr Reading said that while most of the animals being offered for sale would be young animals, older cattle, including bulls, would be included at the sale.
He said that farmers presenting animals for sale would have to produce their organic certification to show the animals have been reared in accordance with the rules.
"There will be inspectors from the Irish Organic Farmers' and Growers' Association at the sale which will begin at noon," he said.
There are 830 registered organic farmers in Ireland using 60,000 acres of land. It is estimated that the organic market in the EU is worth £2.2 billion annually.