The area of organically farmed fields and pastures in Bavaria has grown steadily for many years. Now it is actually stagnating for the first time. This emerges from the current status report on organic farming, which Agriculture Minister Michaela Kaniber (CSU) recently sent to the state parliament. According to this, the organic agricultural land in the Free State comprised approximately 415,528 hectares at the end of 2022. That was only 7,099 hectares more than at the same time last year. The share of organically managed agricultural area in total agricultural area is 13.42 percent. The goal of 30 percent organic farming in 2030, to which the state government committed itself by law after the referendum “Biodiversity in Bavaria – Save the Bees” in 2019, has therefore moved further into the distance. Experts have long doubted whether the 30 percent target can be achieved.
There was also criticism of Kaniber from the organic associations and the initiators. “There needs to be a clear commitment to organic in state and municipal canteens,” said the chairman of the State Association for Organic Agriculture (LVÖ), Thomas Lang. “To this end, we require a binding 50 percent organic content in them.” The compulsory organic quota in public kitchens is seen by experts as a decisive lever for further stimulating demand for organic products and thus for quickly increasing the organic share in agriculture. At the same time, Lang called for the organic model regions in Bavaria to be strengthened, in which the Free State particularly supports organic farming. The LVÖ is the umbrella organization of the organic associations Bioland, Naturland, Biokreis and Demeter. The spokeswoman for the species protection referendum and ÖDP chairwoman, Agnes Becker, also accused the state government of not taking the expansion of organic farming seriously enough. The “long-term positive trend in the organic market shows consumers’ desire for more organic.” Like the organic associations, Becker is calling for “a binding quota of 50 percent organic products when purchasing food from the public sector.”