Organic farmers quit as demand stagnates
The Soil Association and the Organic Farmers and Growers has warned the sector faces difficult times and the organic revolution faces stalling in the face of rising food prices and job uncertainty.
The National Farmers' Union has also said that "a small number at breaking point" wanted to leave farming but could not, because they had converted from standard farming less than five years ago and would have to pay back all the subsidies they had received.
An organic market report published recently by the Soil Association states organic customers are "tightening their belts by shopping less often, buying fewer premium products and prepared foods and switching to lower-cost retailers".
Because newcomers take at least two years to convert to organic standards, the author of the report warned shoppers could face shortages in supplies by next year and rising imports.
Martin Cottingham said: "One of the things we'll be seeing potentially in as little as 12 months' time is a shortage of supply because, with a dip in sales, it will be difficult for some producers, and some may drop out of the market."
Britain's organic sector has boomed in recent years, and now has about 5,500 farmers and other fruit and vegetable growers, together with more than 2,500 processors, importers and other businesses, with sales of more than £2bn a year.
The South West accounts for a significant proportion of this – the region is home to 25 per cent of the country's organic farmers.
Although the long-term picture looks good, with more producers applying to join the system than leaving, the Soil Association, which accredits eight out of 10 organic products on sale in the country, admitted last week that the volume of sales fell in 2008.
The latest figures from TNS, the retail market experts, show a 19 per cent fall in sales of organic food in the 12 weeks to March 22, compared with the previous year.
Partly as a result, the Soil Association said six or seven producers were leaving its certification scheme each month, and the Organic Farmers and Growers, the second-biggest UK accreditation scheme, said it was also experiencing "churn".
However, both associations insist their members are showing tentative signs of stabilising sales, even recovery.
Both also report a continuing stream of farmers entering organic conversion.
Ian Johnson, spokesman for the NFU in the South West, said organic food had only ever been a "niche" market and those who were committed to it would stick with it.
He said: "There will always be organic farmers."
However, he added, organic food was probably not as high a priority for consumers as it may previously had been.
He said: "I speak to a lot of farm shops and they've said there's no point being organic because people are happy enough to see that they're local and use traditional methods of farming."
Although it was always "disappointing" if people had to give up on their businesses, he said no-one could dictate to customers how they spend their money.
One of those who has been forced to give up her organic certification is Roberta Edgar, of Buckworthy Farm at Exford, near Minehead, West Somerset.
The previous owners of the lamb and beef farm had started converting the 122-acre farm to organic production, and Ms Edgar, 55, stuck to the organic system for 10 years despite never making a profit.
This year, her abattoir said there was no longer enough demand for her organic meat and it could only pay the lower "conventional" prices.
Meanwhile, shortages of supply have pushed up the cost of organic sheep feed to nearly £500 a tonne, nearly double that of ordinary feed.
When the Soil Association put up its fee, Ms Edgar decided she had no choice but to quit.
She said: "Finally you have to stop tearing pound notes up."
However, despite giving up the accreditation, she insisted she would stick to organic practices because she "believes in the system".
Comment on this story