Organic farming in the UK - statistics & facts
Organic farming area in Europe has been increasing annually and reached a new high of around 18.5 million hectares of farmland in 2022. Organic farming is characterized by the use of fertilizers that are organically produced. The number one fertilizer used in organic farming in the UK is cattle farmyard manure, followed by cattle slurry. It is also not uncommon that organic farming is done without fertilizers and methods such as crop rotation are utilized instead. The UK is among the ten largest organic food markets worldwide, based on revenue generated. However, it is not among the ten countries with the largest organic farmland area.
The stagnation of growth in organic farmland and drop in the number of organic food producers and processers signals a shift in food production preferences in the UK. The cost of living crisis may further accentuate this trend as shoppers may choose low prices over organic production methods.
Land used for organic farming
Despite organic farming area increasing in recent years in Europe as a whole, the total area used in the UK for organic farming has decreased and most recently started to plateau. In 2023, around 462,000 hectares of land were used, this area is significanty smaller than organic farmland area in previous years. Land used in the UK is almost a sixth of the organic farmland of France, and is smaller than many other European countries' organic farmlands. Approximately 286,000 hectares are used for permanent pastures, while other areas are temporary farmland, used for woodlands, unutilized, or in conversion to become organic land.Forms of use and livestock
In the UK, about 46,000 hectares of land are used for organic cereal crops. Vegetable crops, such as potatoes, accounted for around 9,500 hectares of organic land used. Besides different forms of crops, organic farming also extends to livestock. Hundreds of thousands of animals are also farmed organically. While the number of organic sheep in the UK only comes up to about 692,000, the number of chickens considered organic amounts to over 4.36 million.The stagnation of growth in organic farmland and drop in the number of organic food producers and processers signals a shift in food production preferences in the UK. The cost of living crisis may further accentuate this trend as shoppers may choose low prices over organic production methods.
