Starting a farm co-op or a CSA
Ireland. What each structure actually costs, how CSAs are really priced, and what money is genuinely available. Every figure below is traceable to a published source, and the sources are listed at the foot of this page.
Two different things get called "turning the farm into a co-op", and they need opposite answers. A CSA is a way of selling: members pay in advance for a share of the harvest. A co-operative society is a legal structure: a registered body that the members own. You can have a CSA with no company at all, and you can have a co-op that isn't a CSA. Most small farms want the first and think they need the second.
Start here. If your turnover is a few thousand euro and your members are also your customers, do not register anything yet. Sell produce, write down the deal, and register a body only when there is a reason to: a lease to sign, someone to employ, liability to carry, or money that will only pay a company.
1. The four structures, and what they cost
| Structure | What it is | Set-up cost | Ongoing |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sole trader | You, trading. No separate legal person. | Nil | Tax return. No filing, no audit. |
| Unincorporated association | A members' group with a constitution and a bank account. | Nil | None — but no separate legal personality. Officers are personally exposed, and it cannot hold land or sign contracts in its own name. |
| Company limited by guarantee (CLG) | The standard "the community owns it" company. Members, not shareholders. | €65 — Form A1 €50 online + Form G5 €15. Optional name reservation €25. | Annual return + accounts. Audit exemption normally available; a member can object. Two directors, one secretary, as few as one member. |
| Co-operative society (IPS) | Registered under the Industrial and Provident Societies Acts 1893–2021 with co-operative principles in its rules. | €200 paper / €100 electronic — or €100/€50 using the Registrar-approved model rules endorsed by a sponsoring body such as ICOS. | Annual return €40/€20, rule changes €60/€15, and a mandatory annual audit. Minimum 7 founding members. No limit on member numbers. |
The seven-member rule is the one that stops most small farms. It comes from section 5 of the 1893 Act and is still in force. A Co-operative Societies Bill is in drafting that would cut the minimum to three, let companies be founding members, and introduce audit exemptions for smaller co-operatives — but as of September 2026 it has not been enacted. If you want to be a co-operative, it is worth knowing that waiting may cost you nothing.
The rule of thumb: a handful of members and a few thousand euro of turnover → a CLG if you need a body at all. Register an IPS when you have seven genuine member-owners, real turnover, and you want the co-operative identity and the model rules.
2. What a CSA actually looks like
A CSA is a commercial model, not a legal one: members commit money in advance, share the season's risk, and get produce. There are only a few in Ireland, and the published numbers are a useful reality check on what people will pay.
| Farm | Scale | What members pay |
|---|---|---|
| Cloughjordan Community Farm (Tipperary/Offaly, member-owned since 2008) | 70–90 adult members; about 3 ha in production | €69.33 per month per adult; children free; twice-weekly collection |
| Bohemians CSA (Dublin; run in partnership with Dún Déagh Farm) | 38-week season, split into two 19-week blocks | Under €18/week for a full share, under €9/week for a half share, plus about €6/member towards a solidarity share |
| Abercorn Farm CSA (Co. Wicklow) | 12 boxes inside a 14-week window; 8+ items per box | €300 per 12-week season; €600 for the full 24 weeks |
| Derrybeg Farm CSA | About 30 households from 2014; nine-month season | Paid in advance, monthly or yearly |
Do the arithmetic before you promise anything. Twenty-five full shares at roughly €18 a week across a 38-week season is about €17,000 gross for the season — before seed, compost, packaging, insurance and your own labour. On a small holding a CSA is usually a side income, not a wage, which is why the ones that survive sell other things too: eggs, plants, workshops, a shop on collection day.
The failure mode nobody warns you about. Growing the vegetables is the easy part. Getting twenty households to pay up front, collect on the same day every week, and come back next season is a marketing and logistics business wearing a farmer's coat. Price it as though you are paying yourself for that work, because you are doing it.
3. Money that actually exists
- LEADER — the rural development programme, €180 million nationally for 2023–2027, delivered bottom-up by 29 Local Action Groups. Your LAG is your county's development company, not a government office, and you apply to them. Capital grants can run to a large ceiling at up to 75%, with feasibility studies at up to 90%. There is a match-funding requirement, and you need planning permission evidence at application stage. Applicants can be individuals, groups or companies — you do not need to be a co-op to apply.
- CLÁR — small capital grants for designated rural areas, but for community facilities open to the public, not private farm enterprise: schools, community and voluntary groups and local development companies apply, through the council. Community gardens and allotments are on the eligible list, which is the only door here.
- TAMS (Targeted Agricultural Modernisation Scheme) — capital grants for farm buildings and equipment. The Organic Capital Investment Scheme pays 60% to farmers in the Organic Farming Scheme, with a minimum investment of €2,000 and a ceiling per holding.
- Teagasc — the free Signpost advisory service is open to all farmers, and every region has an organics advisor. Paid advisory packages exist from a few hundred euro.
- European Innovation Partnership (EIP) — real money, wrong shape. Calls are thematic and large (multi-partner operational groups). It is not a grant a single smallholding applies for; the realistic route is being a demonstration farm inside someone else's group.
4. Farm schemes: the four questions that decide everything
Before any structure question, answer these — because for a small holding they decide whether scheme money exists at all.
- Hectares. The Organic Farming Scheme requires 3 hectares minimum — 1 hectare only if you are a horticultural producer, with at least half the area cropped each year. Under 3 ha and not growing crops commercially, the door is shut.
- Herd number. BISS requires a registered herd number (or an application submitted by the deadline). If yours has lapsed, that is the first call to make, and a holding with horses can register an equine premises number.
- Entitlements. BISS pays on payment entitlements. You can apply without them; you will not be paid. They come from a previous scheme, a transfer, or the National Reserve.
- Horticulture or livestock. This is the fork for a small holding. Grow and sell produce commercially and the 1 ha horticulture route is open; run stock and the 3 ha minimum applies.
Commonage does not qualify for Organic Farming Scheme payment. Neither do grazing rights, rented land, farmyards or farm roadways. On a holding with hill or commonage land, that can remove most of the area you were counting on.
Does a co-op help you claim where you could not as an individual? No. The schemes turn on who farms the land, who holds the herd number, and who holds the entitlements — not on what kind of body you register. Forming a co-op creates no entitlements and does not lower a scheme's minimum area.
Does a farm partnership help? A Registered Farm Partnership is two or more farmers sharing a herd number and resources. It does raise some ceilings and it can multiply certain participation payments, but it does not reduce minimum areas — the scheme rules say the minimum for a partnership is the same as for an individual. And a CSA is not a farm partnership: your members are customers, not partners.
5. Registering, step by step
If you decide on a co-operative society
- Get seven founding members who genuinely intend to be member-owners.
- Adopt rules covering the Second Schedule of the 1893 Act — in practice, use the ICOS model rules, because Registrar-approved model rules halve the registration fee.
- Register with the Registrar of Friendly Societies (it sits with the Companies Registration Office). Electronic filing is half the paper fee.
- Budget for the annual audit. This is the ongoing cost people forget.
If you decide on a CLG
- Agree a constitution — objects, membership, directors.
- File Form A1 online (€50) with the constitution, plus Form G5 declaration (€15).
- Appoint two directors and a secretary. One director can be the secretary; as few as one member is allowed.
- File the annual return and accounts each year; claim the audit exemption.
6. What to do next
- Answer the four scheme questions above before anything else.
- Join the existing co-operative in your area rather than founding a new one — most counties have an organic or producer co-op with associate membership for a small annual fee.
- Submit a LEADER Expression of Interest. It costs nothing and tells you whether your idea is fundable before you write an application.
- Talk to your region's Teagasc organics advisor about the commercial-horticulture view of your holding.
- Write the members' agreement before you take a euro from anyone.
- Decide the legal entity last.
Note: the Leitrim Development Company site (ldco.ie) was returning a server error when this page was checked. The LEADER figures come from its published booklet; if the site is down, use the archived copy.
Sources for the figures on this page
- Co-operative society fees (registration €200/€100; €100/€50 with approved model rules; annual return €40/€20; rule changes €60/€15) — Registrar of Friendly Societies fee schedule (archived copy, if that page challenges you — it sits behind a bot filter). The seven-member rule — s.5, Industrial and Provident Societies Act 1893 and ICOS.
- Company limited by guarantee (Form A1 €50 online, Form G5 €15, two directors, one member minimum) — CRO company fees and CRO registration guidance.
- Organic Farming Scheme (3 ha minimum, 1 ha for horticulture; commonage excluded; current rates and the participation payment) — the OFS terms and conditions 2026 and Citizens Information.
- BISS (eligible hectare, herd number, 0.10 livestock units per hectare, €285 per entitlement cap, €100 minimum payment) — Citizens Information and Teagasc.
- Registered Farm Partnership, including that the minimum area for a partnership is the same as for an individual — OFS terms and conditions 2026, s.15(d), linked above.
- LEADER (€180 million for 2023–2027, delivered by Local Action Groups) — Department of Rural and Community Development.
- CLÁR (community facilities, €5,000–€65,000, up to 90%) — CLÁR 2026 scheme outline.
- TAMS Organic Capital Investment Scheme (60% grant, €2,000 minimum investment, €90,000 ceiling) — Irish Organic Association.
- CSA prices and member numbers — the farms' own pages: Cloughjordan Community Farm, Bohemians CSA, Abercorn Farm, Derrybeg Farm.
Figure check. Scheme rules and fees change. Re-check anything here before you rely on it.
Free to copy, adapt and pass on.