Gloomy report for British organic

Posted: Tuesday, June 30, 2009 3:06 pm

A report commissioned by the Soil Association has led Peter Melchett, its policy director, to conclude: "If we want to continue eating huge quantities of cheap chicken, pork and dairy products and other mass produced foodstuffs, organic faming cannot deliver." According to the report, a major shift towards oganic farming in the UK would see food supplies plummet, and a vast increase in farm laborers performing the back-breaking tasks which modern agriculture had made unnecessary.

According to DairyReporter.com, the main findings of the report include:

  • Chicken, egg and pig meat production would fall to about a quarter of current levels due to abolition of intensive systems under organic agriculture.
  • The amount of wheat and barley produced would drop by around 30 percent.
  • Dairy production would drop by around 30 to 40 per cent, unless herds were re-established and dairies reopened.
  • A massive increase in rural employment, with the creation of 73 percent more farm jobs.

Even so, Melchett believes the report "shows the positive impact that organic farming could have".

"To the extent that this study has shed new light on these issues, policy makers should now be better placed to decide how policies supporting organic agriculture should be amended or developed", he said.

The report was compiled by Reading University's Centre for Agricultural Strategy. The researchers looked at a sample of 176 farms, classified as organic if more than 70 per cent of their area was organic or in conversion. These data were then raised to England and Wales level, to show hypothetical land use patterns. A copy of the report can be purchased for £11.50.