UK Organic Decline June 5, 2014 12:00 am The decline in the area of organic land in the UK continued in 2013. According to the latest statistics from DEFRA the amount of land in conversion and fully organic land fell by 24.4% 3.9% respectively. This continues a trend seen over the last few years; UK Organic Farming Statistics 2013 UK 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 % change 2013/2012 In Conversion (‘000 Ha) 119 51 37 32 24 -24.4% Fully Organic (‘000 Ha) 619 668 619 573 551 -3.9% Cattle (‘000s) 331 350 335 290 283 -2.4% Sheep (‘000s) 885 981 1,162 1,152 999 -13.3% Poultry (‘000s) 3,959 3,871 2,838 2,458 2,488 1.2% No. of Producers & processors 7,567 7,287 6,929 6,487 6,072 -6.4% Source: DEFRA In the organic livestock sector, only poultry saw an increase in numbers to 2.5 million head. Cattle, sheep and pigs all declined. Organic sheep numbers fell back below one million in 2013. Organic cattle, sheep, pigs and poultry in the UK make up 2.9%, 3.0%, 0.6% and 1.5% of their total livestock populations respectively. Not surprisingly, given the statistics above, the number of organic producers and processors in the UK has declined year-on-year. Wales has seen the largest fall by 15.5% to 913. The economic downturn is likely to have had a negative impact on the sector due to lower demand from consumers who have switched to cheaper products. As the economy recovers it will be interesting to see whether these customers switch back. In Wales where producer and processor numbers have declined the most, the launch of the new Organic Glastir scheme (see article) may encourage an improved take up. It is widely acknowledged that the previous scheme encouraged producers to enter the scheme without fully understanding the implications of farming organically; perhaps the reason why there has been such a big decline in Welsh numbers as producers realise it is ‘not for them’. The new scheme is being designed with this in mind.
