Organic farm incomes up in 2015

A new financial report published this month shows organic farm profits increasing, with organic dairy farming outperforming conventional dairy farming in England and Wales.

This detailed financial report on organic farming in England and Wales for 2014/15, undertaken by the Organic Research Centre for the Welsh Government, highlights that the organic dairy industry is now generating higher profits than conventional farms despite producing lower yields. The sector is also successfully competing for new export business in countries like China and USA.

Over the period of the report the average organic milk yield was 6228 litres per cow, which is lower than the average conventional holding yield of 7485 litres per cow. However this was compensated by lower forage costs and an organic milk price increase to 38ppl; compared to the reduced conventional price of 30ppl (pence per litre), resulting in an organic net margin of £376 per cow (6ppl) compared with £298/cow (4ppl) conventional.