§ Mr. HarveyTo ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what assistance he will give to organic farmers who have already made the conversion from conventional to organic farming; what assessment he has made of the take-up of financial aid among organic farmers; what he is doing to ensure organic farmers know what aid is available to them; what assessment he has made of the length of time it takes for financial aid to be given to organic farmers after application under the Organic Aid Scheme; and if he will make a statement. [96267]
§ Mr. MorleyPrior to the introduction of the Organic Farming Scheme (OFS), the Government considered carefully the question of whether those already farming organically should receive aid. We decided to target available resources on the conversion period when yields drop and premia for organic produce are not available. I have no plans to extend aid beyond the five year period provided by the OFS.
I expect the review of the OFS to consider the take-up of organic aid by farmers since April 1999 and to make recommendations for the future design of the conversion aid schemes.
46WAdvice to prospective organic farmers on how to obtain free advisory visits is provided by a dedicated Helpline telephone number and advice on conversion aid payments is available from MAFF Regional Service Centres. The scheme literature sent to each prospective applicant points out that organic farmers can still benefit from a range of aid measures which are available to farmers generally.
The timing of payments to farmers under the Organic Aid Scheme formed part of the 1998 review of support for the organic sector. The review recommended moving from payments made in arrears to payments made annually in advance, at the end of the first quarter. We implemented the recommendation and have retained the same pattern of payments in the OFS.
We want to see organic farming succeed. We inherited a situation in which total payment for organic conversion averaged about £1 million annually. Over the last six months we have allocated about £16 million to more than 750 fanners. In the debate on agriculture on 28 October 1999, Official Report, column 1131, my right hon. Friend the Minister announced that further money would be made available. This will allow another 250 or so farmers to benefit from the OFS. And it will allow us to pay aid to all the farmers already in the OFS much sooner than would otherwise have been possible.