GB: growing market, declining number of organic farmers

More and more farmers are giving up the organic way of production, because it is economically not feasible for them. While 3.3% of land is farmed organically in the UK - the same figure as in 2000 - countries such as Austria and Spain have seen sharp rises (to 18.5% and 7.5% of the total agricultural surface). But the number of UK farmers and certified processors making organic food products stands at 6,072, down from 7,567 in 2009. So why, when UK organic sales rose by 4% in 2014, the second consecutive year of growth, are producers giving up? And could more generous European subsidies, to be paid from next year, tempt them back?

Last month a report by the European Environment Agency highlighted huge disparities between countries and the fact that British organic farming has stalled: In 2013, the last year for which data are available, land in the process of being converted to organic fell by 24%, with fully organic land falling by 3.9%. The number of producers and processors of organic food fell for the fifth year in a row, by 6.4%, and the number of organic sheep, pigs and cattle also fell, reports the British Guardian.