Scotland’s organic crop sector ‘needs a DIY-approach’ to thrive

Combinable crops were the focus of a national organic conference in Hampshire. Caroline Stocks reports: A DIY-approach to crop development is vital if Scotland’s organic sector is to have a strong and sustainable future, says the Scottish Organic Producers Association (SOPA).

Roger Baird, SOPA board member and director of grain merchants WN Lindsay, said farmers needed to take crop trials into their own hands if the sector was to develop varieties which suited organic farms in Scotland.

Speaking at the conference, Mr Baird said there were too few seed companies who were prepared to invest in producing new varieties of organic seed.

And with growing demand for unique crop varieties – such as in Scotland’s brewing industry – the sector needed to move quickly to develop the varieties the market wanted.

“We need to get away from varieties where growers need to throw inputs at them,” he told delegates.

“If we’re not getting the industry helping, then we need to do our own thing. There are (processing) companies who are prepared to invest in unique varieties.

“In Scotland we have only one organic malting barley variety, Concerto, planted this year, which isn’t ideal.

“If the market is there for bespoke products then we have to find ways to meet that demand.”

Cambridgeshire farmer Stephen Briggs said organic producers needed to adopt “citizen science” to help further the sector’s productivity.

He said organic seed trials being run by seed companies were unsuitable, and urged farmers to take on more on-farm trials themselves to help new varieties develop faster. British agriculture is in a race against time to help develop more diverse crop varieties which are more sustainable and able to cope with climate change, according to a leading crop scientist.

Professor Martin Wolfe, principal scientific adviser at the Organic Research Centre, said farmers and seed development companies need to think quickly about how climate change will impact upon arable farming.

And he said the industry needs to focus on varieties which are less dependent on inputs which put pressure on the environment.

Speaking at the conference, Prof Wolfe warned that it can take more than a decade from initial crop trials to producing commercial varieties, and during that time temperatures will continue to rise.

“The whole process of developing crops to make sure the individual variety is unique, uniform and stable so it can be used on a whole area can take as much as 15 years,” he told delegates.

“All the while, the climate is changing.”

Prof Wolfe said that good farming and diversity was a priority for UK agriculture, and said millers and the wider industry needed to do more research and development into more diverse crops as a matter of urgency. Working more closely with processors to grow crops which match their specifications could help farmers increase profits and drive efficiencies across the supply chain.

Andrew Trump, of farmer-owned grain marketing company Organic Arable, said focusing on consistency and quality had helped its growers lift oats from a commodity product to one millers were prepared to pay a premium for.

Speaking at the conference, Mr Trump said Organic Arable’s growers had agreed a dedicated supply contract with Irish miller White’s after the company complained about the consistency of the oats it was buying.

By working more closely with the miller, growers had been able to adapt their crops to produce a product which met their specific demands – bringing efficiencies and benefits to every stage of the supply chain.

“White’s get a better quality product, which reduces waste, but it’s also helped them get a better understanding of their own processing and where they can develop efficiencies,” said Mr Trump.

“They then pass a proportion of that benefit back to producers.”

The relationship has also enabled Organic Arable to achieve more consistent pricing for its growers, removing volatility from the market.

“We work out a pricing system every September with White’s to agree a minimum and maximum price, which creates a more stable market,” he said.

“We also pay premiums for quality and make deductions for poorer quality.”

Andrew Trump, of Organic Arables, says farmers should work more closely with processors, while Roger Baird, below left, of the Scottish Organic Producers Association, is urging growers to take crop trials into their own hands.