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UK: Results of the producer survey now online

The Organic Research Centre Elm Farm (ORC) has now published a report based on the producer survey that it carried out as part of the UK case study of the Organic DataNetwork Project in November and December 2013.

Cover

Cover of "English Organic Producer Survey 2013"

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There are approximately 2700 English organic producers and 223 of these participated in the survey, a response rate of just over 8%.

The sample is not representative of the total population of English organic producers, see the data collection and analysis section for more details, but gives a snapshot of the situation for a large number of producers.

The survey covered a range of farm types, though completed surveys showed greater coverage of beef and sheep and under-coverage of cereal holdings. The geographical distribution showed a slight under-coverage of the east of the country.

The producers were asked about their business intentions for the future with the majority indicating that they were not planning to change their business but some indicating that they may increase/intensify production. They were also asked about their intentions specifically with regards to remaining in organic production. The majority of organic farmers in England indicated that they plan to remain in organic farming in the medium to long term and 40% indicated that they plan to remain in organic farming for over 10 years suggesting that they are very committed to organic farming.

There was a mixed picture with regards to producer perceptions of the performance of organic enterprises from November 2012 to October 2013.

Overall, the majority of English organic producers surveyed intend to continue farming organically. They indicated that they farm in this way for their livestock and for the environment, but profitability may not be sufficient to cover rising costs and allow re-investment in their business. However, many commented that they would still farm in a low-input or environmentally friendly manner if they were not organic. Some producers also expressed a desire for more market information and greater market transparency and it is hoped that the survey and this report represent a first step towards this.

Some of the information from the survey was also summarised in the Soil Association’s Organic Market Report which was published in March. The results of the survey can be downloaded from Organic Eprints.

More information

Contact

  • Catherine Gerrard, The Organic Research Centre Elm Farm (ORC), UK
  • Susanne Padel, The Organic Research Centre Elm Farm (ORC), UK

Citation

Gerrard, CL, Padel, S, Lampkin, N (2014), English Organic Producer Survey 2013. Report 2/2014.The Organic Research Centre, Newbury. Available at http://orgprints.org/26329/

Contact

Dr. Catherine Gerrard
The Organic Research Centre Elm Farm
Hamstead Marshall
Newbury, Berkshire RG20 0HR
United Kingdom
Tel. +44 1488 658298
Fax +44 1488 658503
catherine.g(at)organicresearchcentre.com
www.organicresearchcentre.com
Personal webpage

Contact

Dr. Susanne Padel
The Organic Research Centre Elm Farm
Hamstead Marshall
Newbury, Berkshire RG20 0HR
United Kingdom
Tel. +44 1488 658298
Fax +44 1488 658503
susanne.p(at)organicresearchcentre.com
www.organicresearchcentre.com
Personal webpage

OrganicDataNetwork: Key facts

Data network for better European organic market information (OrganicDataNetwork)

Funding: 7th Framework Programme for Research and Technological Development of the European Union
Cordis.lu:Entry in the Cordis Database
Project call identifier:
FP7-KBBE-2011-5
Project number: 289376
Duration: 2012-2014
Project leader: Prof. Dr. Raffaele Zanoli, UniversitĂ  Politecnica delle Marche, Ancona, Italy
URLwww.organicdatanetwork.net