A total of 365 new organic farms were registered in the organic production control system this year, more than in any other year during the 2000’s. There are now about 4,300 organic farmers in Finland.
As new farms convert to organic farming and old organic farms acquire new fields, the area of cultivated organic fields has risen to approx. 205,000 hectares, which is nine percent of the total cultivated area in Finland. The Organic Production Development Programme, underlying the government platform, aims at having a minimum of 20 percent of the cultivated area in organic farming by the year 2020.
The average organic farm size is about 48 hectares, which is ten hectares more than the average conventional farm.
The 20 percent goal has already been exceeded in the provinces of Ahvenanmaa and Kainuu, and Pohjois-Karjala is only one percentage unit behind.
Positive attitude towards increasing organic production
Good market conditions, favourable public attitude towards organic production, and the new European rural development programming period starting in 2014 all contribute towards increasing organic production. Further, the rising cost of artificial fertilizers and animal feeds, for instance, persuade farmers to look for more profitable alternatives.
In addition to agricultural production, also organic food production & processing is showing a marked increase. The number of organic food producers included in the control system grew by 11 percent in 2011, and amounted to 487 processors in the year-end 2011. So far, nearly one hundred new organic food processors have joined the system in 2012; most of these are bakeries and in-store bakeries.
Source: Evira press release Record Number of New Organic Farms and Enterprises of 13.09.2012
More information
- Evira.fi: Themes > Organic production > Statistics and data search (In Finnish)
- Organic-Europe.net: Finland
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