"Cuts to organic grants could force farmers out of business"

Wednesday 01 October 2014

An organic grower says cutbacks in States grants for local organic businesses could force some growers out of the industry - and says that instead of supporting farmers, government support is falling way behind EU levels.

Farmers in Jersey have recently been offered £11 per vergée as a one-off payment for the next two years – half of what organic farmers get in the UK and much less than those in EU countries who get as much as £77 per vergée a year. But for the last three years they've had no extra payments at all, and before then it was £50 per year.

In practice, the change means that they only get an extra £28 a year for farming land the size of Wembley football pitch. Organic land is more expensive to farm and local growers still have to compete against imported organic produce.

Steve Jones farms around 20 vergée at Vers Les Monts Farm in St Peter. He’s one of a number of organic farmers who have been working with the Environment department on a Rural Economy Strategy for 2016. But Steve says that many are struggling right now and it’s likely a lot of them won’t last until then. He thinks the Island might lose three of its producers by the end of the year and he could be one of them.

He said: “It’s all in the plan to do more promotion and more awareness about the benefits but it’s all going to be too late really.

“I don’t want to but I’ve got to the stage where over the last four years the return has been dwindling and the support has and we’ve got to a dead end really.”

The States recently paid organic expert Mark Measures to carry out a review of organic farming in the Island, and it warned that they should be doing more to help local producers.

Steve said: “The current absence of on-going maintenance support for organic farming in Jersey contrasts with virtually all EU countries…..This puts Jersey producers at a significant disadvantage.

“There is overwhelming international research evidence that organic farming is beneficial to the environment compared with conventional farming, for example in terms of biodiversity, water quality and climate change." 

Steve has been campaigning with other growers to try to get more help now.

He said: “We used to get £50 per vergée which is quite comparable but £11 is completely the other end of the scale and we’re pushing to get that increased to what it was.”

Steve is one of three local organic growers who work together to grow and supply veggie bags for Islanders, delivering what’s in season to people’s doorsteps. He’s hoping the launch of their new website giving Islanders the chance to order what fruit and veg they like will encourage more people to buy organic.

Steve said: “There have been lots of surveys done, there are more nutrients in organic foods but it’s a thing that customers have to decide for themselves, to me it seems like the obvious choice, why put chemicals in your food that are not needed.”