The Bavarian organic farmers are optimistic about the new year. It is true that they are also struggling with general price increases and high inflation, especially since they have put a damper on the organic boom of recent years. “But we’re still confident about the new year,” says Hubert Heigl, chairman of the Bavarian State Association for Organic Farming (LVÖ), in the run-up to Biofach in Nuremberg, which starts in a week.
The Biofach is considered the world’s leading trade fair for organic food, the LVÖ is the umbrella organization of the four major organic associations Bioland, Naturland, Biokreis and Demeter. It represents the vast majority of the nearly 12,000 organic farmers and 5,100 processing organic farms in Bavaria.
The reason for Heigl’s confidence: The Free State has increased the financial support for organic farmers from the new year to the limits of the amount that is legally possible. Since the beginning of the year, he has paid them a subsidy of EUR 284 per hectare of grassland that they farm organically. For organic fields, the funding even amounts to 314 euros per hectare and year. In the organic scene, this is seen as a very strong incentive for conventional farmers who are toying with the idea of converting their farm to organic.
Nevertheless, the Free State is still a long way from the goal laid down in the Bavarian Nature Conservation Act that 30 percent of the agricultural area in this country should be managed according to ecological principles by 2030. The currently almost 12,000 organic farmers cultivate 414,000 hectares of agricultural land. This corresponds to just over 13 percent of the agricultural area in Bavaria. And 2030 is only seven years away. LVÖ boss Heigl is therefore calling for further signals for the organic sector. He sees a lot of potential for this in so-called out-of-home catering, especially in public canteens and canteens, where organic products are far from being available everywhere.