Regenerative agriculture is sexy, which has left organic feeling rather staid; sales are ok but the land farmed organically is shrinking. David Burrows reports.
Organic de-growth. The amount of land that is farmed organically has continued to fall, according to the latest Defra statistics. Some 498,000 hectares were farmed organically in the UK last year, down 1.3% compared to 2022. In 2014 the figure was almost 548,000 hectares.
Scotland’s success. Scotland bucked the downward trend, reported Farmers Guardian, with full organic land increasing 11.8% last year. The Scottish Government has apparently had a surge in applications for support for organic conversion so far in 2024. The Soil Association said this was because farmers are responding to the support on offer, backed up by ambitious targets. (In Europe, 10.4% of total farmland was organic in 2022; the target is to hit 25% by 2030).
Sales spurt. British farmers generally are missing out, said Soil Association Certification commercial director Alex Cullen. “We are seeing growth in organic sales but this has largely been fuelled by imports not home-grown produce.”
Not interested. A number of factors have resulted in dwindling interest in converting to organic practices – from the weather and profit margins to lack of government support and worries over yields. Price is the biggest problem. “We are undertaking thorough research to understand fully what is happening and how this is impacting organic sales,” the Soil Association said in February.
The new enviro-buzz. In recent months, the interest in regenerative approaches has surely played a part in organic’s struggles. Food buyers have bought into the concept, and there is a far more flexible approach to what constitutes regenerative than the strict organic certification. But that flexibility is also its Achilles heel – with no certification scheme or even legal definition, there is concern that regenerative is more corporate hype than a mainstream farming movement that can make a difference to nature and climate.
Greenwashing. This hasn’t stopped brands in foodservice already applying the term ‘regenerative’ to products and menus. Whether greenwashing accusations follow remains to be seen. Organic produce can claim to be regenerative, according to the Competition and Markets Authority. “We’ve seen a real buzz and interest in regenerative practices in farming,” said Cullen. “And as the most recognised and trusted form of regenerative farming with robust and legally enforced standards – organic is the natural choice.”
Not really. Supporters of regenerative approaches say organic falls short in some ways but the truth is that both approaches have their pros and cons. As Harriet Bell, regenerative farming lead at organic veg box company Riverford, has eloquently put it: “The best organic farmers are regenerative, and the best regenerative farmers are organic.” Sales of organic in foodservice rocketed in 2022 (by 156%) but were only “stable” last year, according to the Soil Association. Much interest remains in the organisation’s Food for Life Served Here programme, which also encourages caterers to source more organic food, and champions local producers.
Biodiversity benefits. Organic farming has the potential to help meet net-zero targets and restore and regenerate nature. Researchby Climate Exchange, a Scottish government-funded centre of expertise on climate change, last year showed that organic farming practices “offer benefits to biodiversity, greenhouse gas emissions, soil carbon, and how organic farming practices might help farmers adapt to a changing climate in Scotland over the next two decades to 2045”.
Dig for carbon. There were gaps in the evidence, however, including the long-term potential of organic management practices to increase soil carbon in the long-term. There is also a lack of evidence of the cumulative benefits of organic approaches (like crop and livestock rotations over many years) on GHGs.
Food for thought. There are certainly plenty of questions surrounding regenerative farming and food too. Ends Report recently noted that regenerative “allows more growers and producers to enter at the point they feel comfortable. On the other, it leaves the concept more open to abuse and greenwashing”. Which are fair points. But it also reported that: “Organic farming is certainly here to stay […] and is likely to be taken up by more producers over the coming decades.” Organic won’t disappear but in terms of growth it’s not going anywhere fast either.
