WEST Devon farmers have been warned that new government grants for farmers to go organic should not be regarded as a lifeboat.
'The money may be seen by some as an escape into a booming market, but organic farms have to be managed just as efficiently as conventional ones,' said Peter Mundy, a spokesman for Organic South-West, the Callington-based branch of the Soil Association.
The association has been one of the chief promoters of organic methods and certifies farms as authentic organic producers.
Last week the Ministry of Agriculture announced the re-opening of its conversion fund to applications from January 2 with £18 million available. Organic South-West said this represented only £13 million of new money, since £5 million was already committed.
For the past year there has been no government money available for farmers wishing to convert to organic production and many have been waiting for the fund to be re-opened.
More than 250 farms in Devon and more than 100 in Cornwall are believed to have converted to organic production, but this still represents only 2-3% of the total.
Grants, to be paid from April, will be given on a first-come, first-served basis and scaled by the size and type of the land involved. The annual payments will range from £5 to £225 per hectare over five years and lump sums of £100-£300 over three years.
Mr Mundy welcomed the Government's decision to re-open the fund but doubted whether there would be enough money involved to help all those farmers who wanted to convert.
Organic farmer Guy Watson castigated the policies of the Government and supermarkets when he spoke in Tavistock last week.
The founder of the successful Riverford Farm at Buckfastleigh said the 12-month hiatus in grants for conversion to organic methods had delayed many farmers from making the move.
'The environment comes pretty near the bottom of Tony Blair's list,' he remarked.
Government intervention in the market had generally had a negative effect, in his view. 'The less government is involved in farming, the better,' he said.
Speaking at the annual meeting of Tavistock and District Conservation Project, Mr Watson said there had been a 'phenomenal' amount of conversion by farmers in the South-West.
But estimates that the market was growing at 50% a year were 'a load of rubbish'.
The market was growing by meeting previously unsatisfied demand, he argued, but demand itself was not growing nearly as fast. He was worried that supermarkets were not doing enough to increase demand and did not care where their produce came from.