England’s organic farmland should almost treble over the next decade under a new government plan that aims to raise the share of agricultural land farmed organically from around 3.4% to 10% by 2036.
The Organic Action Plan for England, published by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) on 14 October, was developed with the English Organic Forum and will be overseen jointly by the two bodies. UK organic retail sales reached £3.9bn in 2025, yet England’s organic land area has been roughly flat for more than a decade, according to Farmers Weekly, with growing demand increasingly met by imports, particularly in horticulture.
The plan concentrates on three areas: supporting existing and new organic producers and processors, aligning domestic supply with demand, and building demand through consumer awareness and public-sector procurement. Farmers considering conversion are promised clearer guidance, one-to-one advice and peer learning from established organic growers. Defra will also publish guidance on how organic products qualify under the Government Buying Standards, with public spending on food and drink running at around £5bn a year.
“People are buying more organic food, and we want English farmers to be in a strong position to respond to that demand,” said Environment Secretary Dame Angela Eagle in the government announcement.
Funding remains the main point of contention. Organic conversion and maintenance options have sat within the Sustainable Farming Incentive (SFI) since 2024, but Defra has not committed ringfenced money and is not currently considering bespoke conversion funding. Replying to readers on the Defra Farming blog on 20 October, the department said it was “exploring alternatives to a first come, first served application process for SFI in 2027”.
The English Organic Forum has called for stronger, ringfenced SFI support to give farmers the confidence to convert. Rob Haward, chief executive of Riverford, said growers need “clear, consistent support from government and strong markets for what they produce”, while Martin Lines, chief executive of the Nature Friendly Farming Network, described the strategy as “a step in the right direction”.
Progress will be measured by organic land area, domestic production, the organic trade balance and public-sector purchasing.
For rural communities, a near-trebling of organic land would mean conversion decisions on thousands of holdings and fresh demand for local processing, advice and supply-chain capacity, provided the support to make that transition viable arrives.
Featured image: Photo: Philip Jeffrey, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
