The business potential for organic farming is looking brighter than ever: the new payments for organic farmers are more generous than in previous years and the market for organic food continues to outstrip non-organic food.
Using current Defra proposals for future organic payments, the advantage for organic arable producers in England will be around £120/ha (organic maintenance payment of £70/ha plus benefit of greening exemption at around £50 /ha). On a 200 Ha farm from 2015 in England the benefit from being organic could be as much as £24,000 per annum.
Liz Bowles, Head of Farming at the Soil Association said “We hope that the farming community will recognise the opportunities offered by converting their farm businesses to organic production. With conversion payments rates up across every land type; with organic land being exempt from greening, plus the UK organic market now booming again there has never been a better time to consider farming organically.”
In addition to the advantages for organic farmers provided by the new CAP payments scheme, past financial performance has also outstripped non–organic farms according to government funded Farm Business Survey data. The Organic Research Centre and the Soil Association have analysed and compared organic farm financial performance with their non-organic counterparts over the period 2006 -2013. The analysis shows an average annual benefit of £26- £82/ha for organic farmers:-
The average annual difference in Farm Business Income (£/ha) between organic and non-organic farm businesses (by main enterprise type) over the period 2006-2013 can be seen in the chart above.
The conversion process
For farmers seriously considering organic conversion, the advice is to start planning conversion now the Countryside Stewardship is open for applications from 1st July 2015 and which runs until 30th September 2015. Within the new Countryside Stewardship scheme there is an organic option with conversion payments of £175/ ha for two years followed by organic maintenance payments of £70/ha on all land in rotations including grassland. This land must have been improved in its recent history before conversion that is it must have been ploughed or had fertiliser applied in the last 20 years.
Business benefits of going organic
Organic farming systems achieve multiple environmental outcomes: protecting and enhancing ecosystem services (water quality, soil fertility, pollination etc.) and delivering substantial carbon saving, pollution control and biodiversity benefits creating a win: win situation for all involved. Organic systems tend to have lower variable costs than their non-organic counterparts, with a reduced reliance on chemical crop inputs. This reduced reliance on purchased inputs in turn reduces exposure to future input price volatility.
Liz Bowles, Head of Farming, Soil Association said “Many of the ways that organic farmers are obliged to manage their businesses are fast becoming industry best practice. More and more non-organic businesses are adopting practices recommended for organic systems as they try to make their businesses more sustainable and reduce their exposure to volatile input prices.”
To find out more about certifying with the Soil Association, contact their Go Organic team today on 0117 914 2406, email on goorganic@soilassociation.org or visit www.sacert.org/organicfarming
