Ireland’s organic production is on a steep growth curve, with the area of land farmed organically increasing by 223% between 2020-2025. As production grows, the national target is also to treble the wholesale value of organic food output to €750 million by 2030, from €200 million in 2023.
Ensuring that organically raised animals are brought to market as organic food is central to achieving this target and a new farmer-led initiative launched recently in County Meath to support the production and processing chains: the Organic Beef and Lamb Innovation Group (OBLIG).
OBLIG brings together farmers, finishers, processors and retailers behind a single goal: building a stronger future for Ireland’s organic beef and lamb. This European Innovation Partnership (EIP) project is co-funded by the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (DAFM) and the European Union. Led by ifac, the farming, food and agribusiness advisory firm, it’s delivered in partnership with Teagasc, National Organic Training Skillnet and Leitrim Organic Farmers Co-op.
5 OBJECTIVES
The project tackles structural problems that make it difficult to process organic livestock through organic supply chains. Weanling/store producers, finishers, marts, processors and retailers often operate in isolation, leading to much of the organically raised beef and lamb not reaching supermarket shelves as organic. Every animal that is not sold through the organic channel is a lost premium for the farmer and a lost supply for the processor, retailer and consumer.
This European Innovation Partnership was officially launched on Friday (August 28th) by the Minister for Agriculture, Food, Fisheries and the Marine, Martin Heydon, with a farm walk at Paul Kennedy’s farm in Stamullen, Co. Meath, demonstrating the project’s work on the ground.
The OBLIG group is built around five objectives: reducing leakage of organic produce into the conventional supply chain; improving coordination across the supply chain; enhancing collaboration and support among producers; addressing distribution and finishing challenges; and strengthening the market linkages that connect farmers to buyers.
BUILDING CAPACITY
The team will focus on addressing the disconnect between weanling/store beef producers in the West and finishing capacity in the Midlands, South and East, and the seasonality that leaves processors and retailers short of certified organic supply for parts of the year. OBLIG will also work with hill lamb producers and finishers, coordinate activity across participating farmers to extend the season, and engage directly with marts.
Through farmer networks, training, capacity building and better data on how the supply chain behaves, the project aims to turn a fragmented organic beef and lamb sector into a coordinated, resilient and profitable one.
With a group of participating famers already in place, OBLIG will recruit a second cohort of farmers throughout 2026, opening the project to more organic beef and lamb producers who want to connect with finishers, processors and retailers and capture the full value of their organic status.
This recent launch showcased the progress made since the project began and set out the roadmap for the years ahead, giving farmers, sector stakeholders and media a clear picture of what OBLIG intends to deliver.
