Everything We Thought We Knew About Irish Lamb Has Changed

Plenty of us want to support Irish farmers and get some premium meat but what if I told you that everything you knew about Irish lamb is a farce?

According to the latest figures, over 70 per cent of organic lamb produced on Irish farms isn't being sold as organic at all, and finds its way into the normal stock. So basically consumers are getting good meat and not paying for it. This is a massive disappointment for farmers who rely on profits from their premium product.

Roscommon beef and sheep farmer Kevin King told Independent.ie he estimates that less than half of his annual crop of 160 lambs are organic."There's really only one decent outlet in the country, which is Irish Country Meats (ICM) in Camolin in Wexford," he said.

"To send lambs there I need to have a minimum of 30 in a batch, and meet a fella in Moate over 65km away, where a batch is assembled to head off to Wexford.

This means most of Mr King's lambs regardless of whether they're organically fed or not are sold through the local outlets, and are sold for 45c/kg less than they should be.

So which counties are getting the best meat without realising? More than 40pc of organic stock goes along the east coast, and it's the opposite on the west coast.

Mr King, who has been organic farming for eight years said, "I'm not crying about the situation, but I'd love to see something being done. I still believe in the system and am happy to be in it. It just needs someone to take it on."

Seems like more needs to be done to help out our farmers who are putting in so much effort without seeing the benefit.