In cases where diseases occur herbal or homeopathic medication is preferred. Nevertheless, if strictly necessary, conventional drug treatment of individual sick animals is permitted. In these cases withdrawal periods are twice the recommended length and permission should be obtained from the relevant certification panel. Economics Experience has shown that the production per animal on organic farms is comparable to the average achieved in conventional animal production systems. As the stocking rate is lower the total farm production in terms of kilograms or gallons per hectare will be lower.
Labour costs are, however, increased on most organic horticultural farms.
Organic Grant Aid, see paragraph Rates of Payments Under REPS below. Naturally you can't be in conventional agriculture today and call yourself an organic farmer tomorrow - there is a conversion period and a process to be gone through. Farmers converting to an organic system should be conviction driven and committed to the organic philosophy. Conversion is more than just abandoning chemicals and using farmyard manure on crops, it can entail a radical and dramatic change to the farming system. It is important to plan the conversion carefully.