CORK is home to almost 500 organic farmers, the second largest number of any county in Ireland.

BY KEVIN FITZGERALD

In 2010 there were 1,400 organic farmers in the country, and that number now nears 6,000, with the majority converting in the past three years.

I visited Ernest, Beth and Emma Skuce on their organic holding at Coosane, Ballydehob, a recently converted organic farm, on a wet May evening.

The Skuce family have been on this land for over seven generations.

It’s a hidden gem of a location, a peaceful few miles north of Ballydehob village, and the farm’s 56 hectares are immediately notable for the diversity of its farming systems and land use – ranging from tillage to commonage.

The farm is in its second year of conversion and the family is enthusiastic about the process.

Up to 2004 the farm was a high-input dairy, suckler and sheep operation.

Ernest felt the system was unsustainable, with some of the farm at an altitude of over 250 metres and soils ranging from Podzols to Gleys, calendar farming was not an option.

A TB outbreak in 2002, followed by a recurrence in 2004, initiated a change in direction.

From 2004 onwards he and Beth concentrated on sucklers and sheep, moving to almost 30 suckler cows and 100 ewes, with a closed herd and flock policy as a key driver.

Numbers have purposely dropped back with the move to organics.

Ernest felt that cautiously reducing stock levels was a prudent option given the vagaries of grass growth. It also helps with the family work-life balance.

Now 14 continental suckler cows are maintained, calving in December. Ernest finds that this earlier start produces a heavier weanling for sale the following September, with a target sale weight of 350–400 kg.

Four and five star cows are crossed with a Charolais bull and Ernest closely monitors progeny lines, though above all he values docility as a key trait, essential to making suckler farming enjoyable. Some 35 ewes are also kept, down from over 100, with hoggets and lambs selected according to the market.

All surplus ewes and lambs were sold direct from the farm last year.

Animals were sold conventionally in 2025, but Ernest sees the market for organic weanlings in particular as offering real potential.

The lower stocking rate and mixed grazing of cattle and sheep has helped markedly in terms of both animal performance and parasite control. Organic farming requires evidence-based treatments, and Ernest regularly takes faecal samples to monitor parasite levels.

Beef output per livestock unit in 2025 was above average at 303 kg; impressive for an organic farm.

An interesting practice on the holding has been the growing of oats and peas for home use. The cereal and protein crop was harvested and stored on-farm, further adding to the farm’s self-sufficiency. Swedes have also been grown over recent years, with all tillage operations completed by Ernest himself - something he considers a great success.

As a participant in ACRES, Ernest also maintains two Wild Bird Cover plots, which allow for scheduled reseeding and is hugely beneficial to local biodiversity.

Balancing stocking rate with annual grass growth has been a priority. Silage quantity and quality drive the system, and Ernest is monitoring closely how many tonnes can be harvested in the absence of chemical fertiliser. Savings on fertiliser and veterinary costs have made a significant difference to the bottom line, though off-farm employment remains necessary. As Ernest says: ‘It puts a crust of bread on the table.’

For Ernest, organic conversion involved two areas of concern. On the housing side, some slats were replaced with concrete slabs to meet the mandatory 50% straw bedding requirement; work completed last year relatively painlessly. The other concern was rush and weed control, an ongoing challenge for organic farmers in the west of Ireland. Ernest manages this through both topping and mulching.

He also understands that tolerance for rushes and broader ecological awareness are central to the organic ethos, and he is rewarded for this through the Organic Farming Scheme. On average, up to 35% of direct payments on organic farms in 2024 came from the scheme payment.

Kevin Fitzgerald is a Teagasc organic adviser covering West Cork, Kerry and Limerick.