Cider-apple growers go organic
24 September 2001
Cider-apple growers go organic
By FWi staff
THE government is grant new funds for the production of organic cider, reports The Independent.
Twenty-one Herefordshire cider-apple growers will each receive payments averaging 5000 to convert to organic over the next five years, the paper reports.
The farmers are registered with the Soil Association and have been accepted into the organic farming conversion scheme run by the Department of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs after starting the conversion process.
Countryside Minister Elliot Morley told the paper: “The conversion to organic will help secure the viability of these orchards and assist in boosting the rural economy of the area.”
John Powell, a cider-apple farmer from Yark Hill near Hereford, operates an 18-acre orchard and is one of the growers to convert.
“Ive never been keen on chemical sprays and I manage the orchard on organic principles, like many of the farmers round here.
“It seems logical to get registered with the Soil Association,” he said.
The paper says farmers may receive organic certification from the Soil Association within three years.
The cider-making firm Bulmers has offered to pay organic growers a premium price for their fruit on 30-year supply contracts.
This follows on from a rebranding exercise aimed towards a younger consumer.
This years cider-apple harvest is expected to be the biggest on record, yielding nearly 100,000t of fruit the paper claims.
- Sweet praise for organic apples, FWi, 19 April, 2001
- Organic boom is unsustainable, FWi, 9 February, 2001
- Organic cash pulls in farmers, FWi, 5 January, 2001