Horsemeat scandal buoys U.K. organic sales after 2012 dip

Consumers are turning to organic products as a guarantee of integrity after meat products were mislabelled

Reuters / Sales of organic products in Britain continued to decline last year in contrast to continental Europe but the horsemeat scandal has sparked a revival, the country’s main organic certification body, the Soil Association, said March 20. “In the worst economic downturn in living memory, it’s not surprising to find subdued sales of a

Horsemeat scandal buoys U.K. organic sales

Reuters / Sales of organic products in Britain continued to decline last year in contrast to continental Europe but the horsemeat scandal has sparked a revival, the country’s main organic certification body, the Soil Association, said March 20. “In the worst economic downturn in living memory, it’s not surprising to find subdued sales of a


Bad news for XL Foods is good news for organic beef

Smaller, independently operated production, slaughter and marketing channels 
paying off in higher prices and increased consumer confidence

Some Manitoba ranchers aren’t losing any sleep over the problems faced by the XL Foods beef recall. That’s because their beef is certified organic, and marketed through channels that operate totally independent of the big players. “I think we are definitely starting to see demand perk up, not that it wasn’t hot already,” said Allan

Better times ahead for organic farmers held on through downturn

The recession has taken its toll on Canada’s certified organic sector, but the worst may already be over. The number of Canadian certified organic farms peaked at 3,914 in 2009. Then the recession hit and that number fell 4.5 per cent nationwide, with a 16 per cent plunge in Saskatchewan, once home to the largest


OPAM trims costs to be more competitive

Streamlined operations and paperwork put Manitoba’s only homegrown 
organic certifying body back on the road to financial health

Manitoba’s own organic certification body is well on its way back to financial health. The Organic Producers of Manitoba, founded in 2005, was hit by a cash crunch as organic’s boom years ground to a halt, said president Edward Lelond. “We were anticipating growth before it happened, and then we hit the recession of 2008,”

Weeds helped save his farm

Weeds aren’t always a farmer’s enemy. Sometimes they’re an ally. Grant Rigby says weeds helped him tackle soil salinity on his farm near Killarney and led him into organic agriculture. “The fundamental reason I dropped herbicide spraying was to allow plants to live on those areas of the farm where the crops I planted were


First Organically Bred Wheat And Oat Lines Enter Co-Op Trials

Oat and wheat varieties bred specifically to perform well in the low-input conditions of an organic production system are one step closer to becoming a commercial reality. Two lines of wheat and two lines of oats developed by the Organic Wheat Breeding Program, based at Carman are now entering first-year co-op testing trials towards evaluation

Organic Alliance Seeks Financial Relief For Small Growers

Aprovincial industry lobby group wants the Manitoba government to ease the financial burden which new regulations will place on small organic farmers. The Manitoba Organic Alliance is asking the province to rebate part of the money small producers will have to pay to comply with organic standards under the incoming regulations. Currently, growers can sell


Rebate Proposal Backed By Organic Growers

The Manitoba Organic Alliance will meet with Agriculture Minister Stan Struthers this week to ask the province to subsidize the cost of organic certification for growers who only sell locally. The rebate proposal emerged from a discussion among growers at last week’s Growing Local Conference over how to assist smaller producers who can’t afford the

U.K. Organic Sales Stable After Recession Fall

Sales of organic products in Britain has stabilized after a recession-driven decline which was particularly severe in the meat sector, the incoming director of the Soil Association said on Feb. 9. “Last year we saw a drop (in demand), particularly in some areas. The feeling is very much that it is more stable now and