Farmers are converting agriculture to organic

Submitted by Fleischportal.de am July 03, 2018, Published in Market & Economy

Berlin, 03.07.2017. The figures published by the Federal Ministry of Food and Agriculture confirm: In 2017, many farmers all over Germany switched to organic farming again - the German organic area grew by more than 120.000 hectares (9,7%) last year to a total of 1.373.157 hectares. Felix Prinz zu Löwenstein, Chairman of the Association of Organic Food Industry (BÖLW), comments:

“More and more farmers are seizing the organic opportunity. In 2017, more than 2.200 farms in Germany switched to organic farming. Every day, the farmers converted an agricultural area the size of about 467 football pitches to organic.

More organic is good for everyone. For the customers who buy more and more organic from here. For bees, rabbits or skylarks that benefit from environmentally friendly, climate-friendly and species-friendly production. And of course for the farmers, who can live off their products thanks to stable and good prices.

We call on politicians at federal and state level: Use the eco-potential for the urgent restructuring of agriculture and nutrition in Germany! The competence and experience of companies in the organic food industry and the ever-growing willingness of citizens to pay more for environmentally friendly and animal-friendly products are the raw materials for agriculture suitable for grandchildren.

We call on Federal Minister Julia Klöckner to focus all adjustments on 20% organic farming by 2030. The grand coalition has set this goal in the coalition agreement. The organic farming strategy for the future must now be vigorously implemented. And brought into line with fertilizer regulations, animal welfare labels, public procurement and EU agricultural policy.

We expect that all departments will tackle the future strategy as a joint task of the entire federal government, for example research, health or environmental policy."

Source: https://boelw.de/