Organic farming isn’t that much of a boon

A German study of organic farming has found that the economic benefits may not be as substantial as believed. Researchers from UC Davis and the University of Kiel examined the revenues of nearly 55,000 farms in Germany between 1995 and 2018, comparing those that converted to organic farming with similar conventional farms in the same region.

At first glance, it appeared that farms transitioning to organic practices experienced a significant increase in revenue. However, upon closer examination, the boost in revenue was already present one year prior to the change in farming practices. A more detailed analysis revealed that the gap in revenues between organic and conventional farms was smaller than initially thought, and the difference was not statistically significant.

The study suggests that while farmers converting to organic methods may initially make more money, they still face pressure from distributors such as supermarkets, which limits the actual increase in revenue. In essence, the economic benefits of organic farming seem to be captured more by the larger entities in the supply chain rather than the individual farmers themselves.