My little farm is as organic as you can get but sorry not worth the hassle and expense, the ten or so beef stores I sell a year already get top price in the local market anyway. I don't need someone else telling me how to take care of my farm. That said I certainly support farms joining these schemes, just it's not for me.
Interesting post Helen - as an organic licensee for 20 yrs I must say that I don't think paying £550 a year for my license and inspection is too expensive when compared with other costs. It's scaled according to land and size of business. Everybody goes on about the onerous job of keeping records - again once you know what records are needed, it's straight forward, can be entered straight into apps, and makes you organised and quite frankly they are the type of records that farmers and growers should be keeping so their finger is on the pulse of their business. Like me knowing that my fields are producing more hay than the average ( even with no fertiliser...) and the hay sells for twice that of conventional hay. And I don't use fertilisers, glyphosate or pesticides so my biodiversity is booming
Sorry for the delay in my reply Sally, I read your comment a few days ago and I think the best way I can break this down is with a part 2 to this post… pending soon!
Thanks Sophie for the comment, I read the report when it first came out and I’m hopeful for the future of dairy. Transitioning to organic dairy could be such a lifeline for UK farms. Big fan of your work! 🙂
It’s unworkable, cumbersome, financially burdensome and seldom lives up to the hype. Enter Billy Gates latest meddling with the food supply through the application of APEEL which has been approved for application on organic produce.
My little farm is as organic as you can get but sorry not worth the hassle and expense, the ten or so beef stores I sell a year already get top price in the local market anyway. I don't need someone else telling me how to take care of my farm. That said I certainly support farms joining these schemes, just it's not for me.
Interesting post Helen - as an organic licensee for 20 yrs I must say that I don't think paying £550 a year for my license and inspection is too expensive when compared with other costs. It's scaled according to land and size of business. Everybody goes on about the onerous job of keeping records - again once you know what records are needed, it's straight forward, can be entered straight into apps, and makes you organised and quite frankly they are the type of records that farmers and growers should be keeping so their finger is on the pulse of their business. Like me knowing that my fields are producing more hay than the average ( even with no fertiliser...) and the hay sells for twice that of conventional hay. And I don't use fertilisers, glyphosate or pesticides so my biodiversity is booming
Sorry for the delay in my reply Sally, I read your comment a few days ago and I think the best way I can break this down is with a part 2 to this post… pending soon!
Gosh Helen I can’t believe you’ve read my little report so grateful for the mention ❤️
Thanks Sophie for the comment, I read the report when it first came out and I’m hopeful for the future of dairy. Transitioning to organic dairy could be such a lifeline for UK farms. Big fan of your work! 🙂
It’s unworkable, cumbersome, financially burdensome and seldom lives up to the hype. Enter Billy Gates latest meddling with the food supply through the application of APEEL which has been approved for application on organic produce.