The decline in organic land area in the UK has slowed significantly in comparison to drop-offs seen in the last four years. Figures released on Thursday by Defra show that, although the organic area in the UK has continued to decline, the loss has been less marked than in recent years.

The organic sector in the UK has still seen an overall reduction in total organic land and in-conversion land, in contrast to most other European states. However, the fall for fully-certified organic hectarage in the UK was only 3.9 per cent in Thursday’s figures, compared to 7.38 per cent and 7.26 for the two preceding years.

In March, certification body the Soil Association released its Organic Market Report, which showed a reversal in declining sales of organic goods in 2013. Sales had been undergoing a slow decline since the onset of recession in 2008, though the Soil Association figures revealed a rise of 2.8 percent last year, with vegetable and dairy sales leading the return to growth.

However, despite the increasing demand for organic products in the UK and abroad, the amount of land undergoing conversion to organic agriculture was down 24 per cent for the UK as a whole (the amount of in-conversion land fell 12.71 and 24.54 percent in the two previous years, too).

Certification group Organic Farmers and Growers said a number of factors could provide an explanation for the trends seen in in-conversion land, which the group said temper any potential alarm for the sector.

The Defra statistics are compiled based on a snapshot taken from the data supplied by organic control bodies at the very end of 2013 and are the most up-to-date aggregation of such information that is currently available. OF&G has called in the past for a move to different recording methods.

Steven Jacobs, OF&G research and development officer, explained, "While the in-conversion numbers are not great, that’s not a surprise because of factors we’re well aware of in the sector – and not forgetting the fact that the figure drops as land actually becomes organic. Not having so much conversion in the pipeline is partly a result of the news that there would be a hiatus in farm payments as the system changed, which is something we uncovered and flagged-up to the industry last year. That’s a curve that we would expect to at least flatten itself out as the recovery continues this year and next."

Looking more deeply at the detailed numbers, they contain decreases in production which are to be expected in line with the reduced hectarage, though organic poultry has seen a 1.2 per cent increase and, with eggs and poultry as a keen indicator of shopper preferences, this could be a precursor to improvements in demand in other sectors.

Mr Jacobs continued, "These are the latest figures available for the sector as a whole in the UK and despite the headline numbers being negatives, we can see the positives in them! As the economy is re-awakening and the organic market along with it, stemming the loss of producers is crucial and we’d hope to see that turn around in the next couple of years."

"The Soil Association's Market Report and other numbers we've seen all point towards a return to growth in sales of organic produce and that means a distinct opportunity for producers who are ready and able to embrace it. We particularly see growing demand for organic cereals in coming years and if greater transparency can be achieved in the amounts of crops destined for human consumption and those destined for animal feed, farmers will be able to grow to specific markets in the face of increased demand. We’re very positive about the future for organic farming now that our economy is on the mend."

The full report from Defra is available here.