Survey shows growth in organic farming in Wales

[S.Annadana]

Survey shows growth in organic farming in Wales
Business News | 6 May, 2008

By Barry Alston
THE area of land under organic management in Wales increased by 15 per cent in 2007 and now amounts to 90,000 hectares on 800 holdings - 6.3 per cent of the total Welsh agricultural area.

The first comprehensive survey of Welsh organic producers by Organic Centre Wales shows more than 300 farmers having applied to join the new Organic Farming Scheme this yea.

It would mean organic farming could grow to 8-10 per cent of Welsh agriculture by the end of 2009.

The report shows organic farming accounted for about 4-5 per cent of all Welsh production in 2007, ranging from 2 per cent in the case of pigs to more than 10 per cent in horticulture, including potatoes.

An estimated 7,000 finished cattle, 110,000 finished lambs, 70 million litres of milk, 830,000 dozen eggs and 4,000 hectares of arable crops were produced organically and more than 90 per cent of the output was sold as organic.

There have however been difficulties in finding organic outlets for light and store lambs, reflecting concerns in the industry that the lamb market may become saturated.