GRANTS of almost £877,000 have been made to help farmers in the region go organic.
The scheme, run by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, helped 21 farmers to convert almost 13,000 hectares of land to organic production in the past year.
Benefactors of this year's grants included 15 farms in Northumberland, who receiv-ed grants totalling £609,850, four in County Durham sharing grants of £164,428, and two in Cleveland which shared £102,557.
Nationally, about 800 farmers have applied to join the Organic Farming Scheme, seeking to put a further 65,000 hectares of land into organic farming.
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