Farmers and food manufacturers are switching to organic
The trend towards eco is continuing, albeit weaker than in the previous year. This is shown by the latest structural data for organic farming from the Federal Ministry of Food and Agriculture (BMEL). In 2022, another 605 farms opted for organic farming. A total of 57.611 hectares have been converted to organic farming, which corresponds to an area of around 80.000 football pitches. In total, 2022 organic farms in Germany operated organically in 36.912 - 14,2 percent of all farms in Germany. A further 2.348 companies, such as bakeries, dairies and butchers, are also taking the opportunity to get started with ecological processing in food production.
The Parliamentary State Secretary in the Federal Ministry of Food and Agriculture, Dr. Ophelia Nick, says: "Organic farming makes our agriculture more crisis-proof, because protection and use already go hand in hand here today. Switching to organic offers the farms an alternative for the future. That's why the farms seize the opportunity even in times of crisis and invest in the switch. With organic, the farms and food manufacturers stay in the villages, which secures valuable jobs and strengthens rural areas. It is clear that environmental, climate and animal protection must pay off e and are developing the "Future Strategy for Organic Farming" into an "Organic Strategy 2030" of the federal government. We are promoting organic in out-of-home catering and strengthening research in the organic area. In our animal husbandry labeling, organic has its own level as the highest legal standard. In this way, we make the services of the companies in the supermarket visible at a glance and consumers have the opportunity to support organic even better with their purchases."
The development for 2022 at a glance:
- Organic farms: A total of 36.912 farms in Germany operated organically, an increase of 605 farms. 14,2 percent of all farms in Germany were organic farms in 2022.
- Organic area: The German organic area increased by 2022 hectares in 57.611. A total of 2022 hectares were farmed organically in 1.859.842, which accounted for 11,2 percent of the total agricultural area in Germany.
- Organic food production: A total of 21.920 companies produced organic food in 2022, up 2.348 companies from the previous year.
- Organic in the region: With more than 15.000 new organic hectares, farmers in Brandenburg are responsible for the largest nominal organic area increase in a federal state. Brandenburg thus moved up – behind Bavaria – to second place among the federal states with the highest proportion of the entire German organic area. As far as the share of organic farms in all farms is concerned, three federal states were over 25 percent: Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, Baden-Württemberg and Saarland.
