Organic Norway, Organic agriculture | Organic Norway is positive about the government’s offer: – Facilitates good negotiations with agriculture

When the state presented its offer to farmers in this year’s agricultural settlement on Monday, the topic of quantifying targets for organic production was brought up.

In November, Oxford Research delivered an evaluation of the national strategy for organic agriculture, which applies to the period 2018 to 2030. In the mid-term evaluation, Oxford Research concluded that a lack of figures was a problem.

“Oxford Research recommends, among other things, introducing a numerical production target, drawing up annual action plans, obtaining better statistics on the turnover of organic food and using public procurement as a means of increasing organic production,” the offer states.

It also points out that a revised strategy must be in place from 2025.

Positive

Ecological Norway is positive that number fixing is mentioned in the offer.

– Organic Norway has worked for a long time to introduce a numerical production target and public procurement, and we are pleasantly surprised that the state refers to these recommendations in its demand. It facilitates good negotiations with agriculture, says Markus Lohne Hustad, head of Organic Norway, in a press release.

The recommendations the state mentions in its offer are to introduce a numerical production target, draw up annual action plans, obtain better statistics on the turnover of organic food and use public procurement as a means of increasing organic production.

– Both parties point out challenges related to low volume and the market situation, an important factor in solving this challenge is a quantified eco-target for production and public procurement. In close cooperation with the Norwegian Farmers’ Association and the Norwegian Farmers’ and Small Farmers’ Association, Organic Norway is cooperating through the project Landbrukets Økoløft, among other things, to put this goal in place. Now it looks like this could mean that there is agreement on both sides of the table in this year’s negotiations, and we hope that both sides will follow up so that we get an eco-target in place that we can start working towards, says Hustad.

15 million more in grants

In 2023, NOK 145.7 million was paid out in direct subsidies for organic primary production. These are grants that come in addition to ordinary grants, and were an increase of just over NOK 20 million from 2022.

In its offer, the government proposes to increase the price subsidy for organic milk by 20 øre to NOK 0.60 per litre, corresponding to NOK 8.5 million for 2025. In addition, it is proposed to prioritize organic plant production by increasing the area subsidy for organic fruit, berries and vegetables with NOK 100 per hectare, organic potatoes with NOK 60 per hectare, organic grain with NOK 60 per hectare and forage with NOK 10 per hectare.

In total, it proposes an increase in subsidies for organic farming of NOK 15.3 million, in addition to ordinary subsidies.