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THE STATE OF SCOTLAND'S FARMED ENVIRONMENT 2005

23. ORGANIC AID SCHEME

HISTORICAL DEVELOPMENT and UPTAKE

Organic farming has been practiced in Scotland at least since the 1950s. The sector experienced considerable growth only after the introduction of the Organic Aid Scheme (OAS) in 1994. There was a steady increase in both the numbers of agreements under the scheme, and the hectares under agreement until the year 2003 (see Tables 23.1 and 23.2). The minimum standards for organic farming are defined by EC Regulations 2092/91 and 1804/99; farmers are required to be registered with an approved certification body, of which the three main schemes operating in Scotland are the Bio-dynamic Agricultural Association, the Scottish Organic Producers’ Association and the Soil Association. (Scottish Executive, 2003)

Table 23.1: Number of participants in the OAS and annual expenditure 1995 - 2005

Number of agreements in force at 31 March each year
1995	1996	1997	1998	1999	2000	2001	2002	2003	2004	2005
13	24	35	54	139	383	509	627	662	608	453
Expenditure as at 31 March each year (£k)
1995	1996	1997	1998	1999	2000	2001	2002	2003	2004	2005
0	53	88	146	194	1226	3485	4943	5513	4766	3100

Source: Scottish Executive (2005a)

Table 23.2: Ha under agreement as at 31 March each year 1995 – 2004
	1995	1996	1997	1998	1999	2000	2001	2002	2003	2004
Rough grazing	11727	12240	14215	18718	84074	185785	227962	296231	291103	225194
Improved grassland	310	571	1135	2010	7479	17937	23846	30062	30175	25914
Arable	328	463	571	866	1633	8210	11776	15849	17700	17481
Total	12365	13274	15921	21593	93187	211932	263584	342142	338979	268588
Source: Scottish Executive (2005a)

Tables 23.1 and 23.2 refer to land and agreements under the OAS. The total number of producers and processors, as well as the area of organic and in-conversion land are higher (based on certifying bodies’ membership and inspections): As at 1 st January 2005 there were 632 producers and 166 processors and/or importers in Scotland . The land in conversion was 15,199 ha, the fully organic land 344,416 ha; the total of this equals 7.3% of the total agricultural area of Scotland . There were 416 organic and in-conversion livestock producers in Scotland at this date; numbers of livestock are not available.

There was a particularly high increase of agreements between 1999 and 2001; a large number of hill farmers joined the scheme in these years. The drop in numbers in 2004 and 2005 reflects the end of their five-year agreements, when many farmers decided to renounce their organic status.

Although in 2005 the total of organic and in-conversion land has decreased by 3% on the previous year (2004), towards the end of the year 2004, prior to and after the decoupling of statutory support from production and the introduction of the Single Farm Payment (SFP) on 1 January 2005 , farmers began to express more interest in converting. These farmers were mostly mixed arable / livestock farms.

A further incentive for new organic farmers may have been the changes made to the OAS in 2004 to make the scheme more flexible, with new payments for land in fruit and vegetable production and new capital activities, as well as providing more long term support for organic producers by introducing maintenance grants. Payment rates for arable land were raised, those for rough grazing, however, lowered, as they had been deemed disproportionally high. It is hoped to attract more lowland farmers into the scheme through the revised support rates. (Scottish Executive, 2005a)

An extensive organic advisory programme is run by the Scottish Agricultural College (SAC) and funded by SEERAD. The programme includes visits to SAC's network of demonstration farms.

The total land under organic management in Scotland (fully organic and in conversion) equals 7.3% of the total agricultural area. A large proportion of this is rough grazing (in 2004, about 84%). The introduction of more attractive payments under the OAS in 2004 as well as advantages brought through the decoupling of statutory support have, after a drop in numbers of agreements in recent years, increased the interest in joining the scheme.

 

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Updated: 23 January 2024

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