UK Organic Decline June 24, 2015 12:00 am The decline in the area of organic land in the UK continued in 2014, for the sixth year in a row. According to the latest statistics from DEFRA the amount of land in conversion and fully organic fell by 19.2% and 4.8% respectively. UK ORGANIC STATISTICS – Source: DEFRA £ per Ha 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 % change 12 to 13 In Conversion (‘000 Ha) 50.8 36.9 32.2 24.4 19.7 -19.2% Fully Organic (‘000 Ha) 667.6 619.1 573.4 551.7 529.0 -4.8% Cattle (‘000s) 350 335 290 283 304 +7.4% Sheep (‘000s) 981 1,162 1,152 999 959 -4.0% Poultry (‘000s) 3,871 2,838 2,458 2,488 2,399 -3.6% No. of Producers & processors 7,287 6,929 6,487 6,072 6,002 -1.2% In the organic livestock sector, only cattle, after three years of downturn, saw an increase in numbers to over 300,000 head. Poultry, sheep and pigs all declined. The number of organic producers and processors in the UK has declined year-on-year. For the second year in a row Wales saw the largest fall by 14.6% to 779. The economic downturn took its toll on the organic sector due to lower demand from consumers who switched to cheaper products. With consumer incomes growing again, producers will be hoping that sales recover. There are some signs of this with the Soil Association’s Organic Market Report showing sales growing by 4% in 2014. However, it is likely to need a greater increase in demand to create large enough premiums to encourage more UK farmers to convert. The full statistics can be found at – https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/437017/organics-statsnotice-23jun15a.pdf .
