The number of farms committed to organic farming has increased in the past year. More than one in ten companies now rely on gentle farming and organic animal husbandry.
More and more farmers in Germany are relying on organic farming or organic animal husbandry. This emerges from figures from the Federal Statistical Office. This means that more and more agricultural land is being managed according to ecological principles.
Last year, around 28,700 companies operated according to organic farming standards. This corresponds to an increase of around ten percent compared to the previous year: there were still 26,100 companies.
More organic space, same yard size
In terms of area, 16 percent more organic land was cultivated. The total area was 1.85 million hectares in 2023. The share of the total agricultural area of 16.6 million hectares rose to 11.2 percent. With an average of 66.7 hectares per farm, organic farms have an area that is almost identical to the average farm with 65.0 hectares.
According to the agricultural structure survey from last year, eleven percent of agricultural businesses rely on organic farming. At 423,000 hectares, almost a quarter of this (23 percent) was in Bavaria; Large areas were also cultivated using organic farming in Brandenburg and Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania.
Organic animal husbandry is also growing
The number of businesses raising organic animals also rose by around eleven percent and was 19,200 in 2023. The share of the total 161,700 animal-keeping businesses was twelve percent.
Cattle and chickens in particular are kept according to ecological standards. Last year this was 949,300 cattle, nine percent of the total herd. The proportion of organically raised chickens in the total population rose to 10.6 million, which is seven percent. Organic farming of pigs is significantly lower; it was only around one percent in 2023.