The organic surcharge

The leader among EU countries in the production and consumption of organic products is Germany. This is due to the extensive promotion of organic production at the EU, federal, and state levels.

According to Wolfgang Neuerburg, former head of the organic farming department at the North Rhine-Westphalian Ministry of Agriculture, the number of organic farms in Germany is 7% of the total.

“Support for farmers usually comes from several sources: 50% is provided by the EU, 30% by the federal government and 20% by the state. It’s not just about support per hectare, but also training, advice, pilot studies and a number of other areas,” said Wolfgang Neuerburg.

He believes that per-unit-area support is a controversial issue, but it contributes to the rapid growth of organic agriculture and is necessary to support organic farmers as they produce lower yields at higher costs and must compensate for those losses.

Wolfgang Neuerburg points out that during the transition from conventional to organic production, farmers receive more funding and more subsidies flow into horticulture because there is higher demand there.

“Young farmers need to learn how organic farming is implemented in practice. For this reason, there is a technical school for organic farming in North Rhine-Westphalia. This approach not only preserves existing organic farms, but also allows new farms to emerge,” says Wolfgang Neuerburg.

The farms receive information about innovative and new technologies from consultants who are active in all federal states and deal exclusively with the topic of organic farming. They, in turn, receive information from experiment stations where experimental research is conducted in crop and livestock production. There are also organic farming demonstration farms throughout the country. The whole chain of activities is funded by the EU and the country.

“These different types of financial support have contributed to the rapid growth of organic farming in the EU. This mechanism has been in place for years, since 1994, so it cannot simply be transferred to Ukraine, where labor costs are higher and yields are lower. An amount must be calculated to cover the costs of Ukrainian producers,” said Wolfgang Neuerburg.

He stresses that supporting organic producers is extremely important, because for farmers to produce organic products, they must be aware of the financial benefits. At the same time, the expert advises developing the domestic market and gaining the trust of consumers, which is the key to success in organic farming.