organic > some organic statistics
According to the Department of Environment, Food & Rural Affairs (DEFRA), statistical information released on 3 July 2008 and relevant to January 2008: 682,196 hectares of agricultural land in the UK was either organic or in-conversion (excluding common grazing), representing 3.9% of the total available.
Of this land, 84.6% was used for permanent & temporary pasture.
7.5% was used for cereals production.
2.5% was used for vegetable production.
0.4% was used for fruit, nut, herbs and ornamentals production.
1.7% was woodland
and 3.3% had other, unspecified use.
With regards to lifestock, an estimated 250,376 cattle were being organically reared, as were 863,122 sheep and 50,435 pigs. Organic poultry numbered some 4,440,698.
As far as regions were concerned:
4.1% of agricultural land in Scotland was in use organically.
The South West region was the proportionally the highest in England with 8.3% organic land.
The lowest included Yorkshire & Humberside, the east Midlands and Eastern England, all with 1.3% of land in Organic use.
Wales yielded 6.4%.
Northern Ireland had 1.0% organically used land.
Since January 2007 the fully organic area had increased by 5%, and the area of land in conversion had risen by 30%
Source DEFRA
Actual source document (PDF format)
In their Organic Market Report of 2007, the Soil Association reported that in 2006 retail sales of organic products in the UK were worth an estimated £1,937 million - an increase of 22% since the previous year. The combined sales value of free range and organic eggs exceeded that of cage eggs for the first time.
According to Organic Farmers & Growers in their National Benchmark Survey of Organic Food Production, published August 2004, from a sample of 1,144 registered organic farmers who responded to the survey, the following was reported:-
4% described their business profitability as healthy.
21% described it as moderate.
33% described it as low.
30% described it as borderline.
12% described it as unviable.
|
