Association Biological Limburg predicts major acceleration of bio share

The future is organic

Limburg deserves extra attention when it comes to organic farming, because both in number of hectares and number of farms the share of organic is still behind the rest of the Netherlands.

Biological is hot

The organic segment grew in recent years from a niche to a full-fledged market. Over the past five years, sales of organic food in the Netherlands have increased by an average of 10% per year, while the food market as a whole grew only 1% per year. Rabobank expects the market share of organic in the Netherlands to grow even further in the coming years, from 3% now to 7% in 2025. The above-average growth in sales in the segment requires that the supply of raw materials can keep up with demand. Scarcity in the availability of raw materials is one of the biggest challenges.

Grouping of forces

Janssen: "Three years ago I went to meet my fellow biofarmers. I was curious about them and hoped that we could work together, especially in making our beautiful products visible to local consumers. The other organic farmers shared that opinion and that's how we started. After a while we got into talks with the Province and LLTB about how we could make organic farming grow in Limburg. We then started researching that among 80 organic farmers throughout the province, with interviews and surveys." The research showed that there was a need to join forces in four areas:

• Advocacy
• Creating recognition in the region
• Knowledge deepening
• Support for conversion

In cooperation with Wageningen University & Research, a knowledge center was established, for which a POP3 subsidy was provided. With, among others, demos on the Vredepeel experimental farm and various master classes, knowledge is gathered and disseminated.

The knowledge centre is open to the public.

Transition

The reasons for considering switching are diverse, as is evident from conversations with regular farmers. Janssen: "Of course the better price plays an important role for cattle farmers, for example. You also see that farmers are sensitive to social attitudes. And those views are changing: organic is increasingly valued by consumers and is no longer a fringe phenomenon. And there are farmers who themselves are confronted with the negative consequences of regular intensive agriculture and therefore want to switch to organic." For farmers who are considering switching, the association organizes orientation meetings and the farmer can request a kitchen table discussion.

Impact

The impact of a switch is different for each farm. What is clear is that as a farmer you have to be open to change. Janssen: "As arable farmer you will be growing more consumer crops, otherwise it will not be profitable. You will have to work with advanced techniques and a lot of foreign labor. This means that the work of the farmer will change dramatically. You have to be willing and able to do that. For a dairy farmer the impact of a changeover is different: think about weed control and feed extraction techniques. And for beef farmers, for example, the impact will be huge in terms of the layout of the stables. Every farmer has their own questions, which is why we also organize specific meetings."

Are you also going for organic?

Would you also like to learn more about organic farming or discover if organic farming is for you? Then visit the website of Biological Limburg or contact Arend Jan Cuperus, project manager at Arvalis, on 06-51490278.

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Sources: Biological Limburg, Rabobank, Volkskrant