The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) published the Organic Action Plan for England on 14 October 2026. Launched by Environment Secretary Dame Angela Eagle, the ten-year plan sets an ambition to increase the share of agricultural land farmed organically in England from around 3.4% towards 10% by 2036, Defra said in a press release.

Defra puts UK organic food sales at more than £3.9 billion a year. The plan document says UK organic retail sales reached £3.9 billion in 2025, but that growth in England’s organic land is lagging. Defra’s statistics for 2025 show a 7.3% increase in UK organic land area on 2024, while England’s total organic area, about 301,000 hectares including land in conversion, rose only 1.5%. England’s organic area has stayed between 289,000 and 324,000 hectares since 2012. The South West holds 46% of England’s organic land. Growing demand is increasingly being met by imports, and the trade gap in organic goods is widening, the plan says.

People are buying more organic food, and we want English farmers to be in a strong position to respond to that demand.

Dame Angela Eagle, Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

Three themes, five outcomes

The plan has three themes: supporting existing and new organic producers and processors, bringing domestic supply more in line with demand, and building demand through consumer awareness and public sector procurement. Its five outcomes include a year-on-year closing of the gap between organic imports and exports and a sustained increase in organic’s share of public sector food purchasing.

Early actions include signposting for farmers considering conversion and one-to-one guidance through the conversion process, which the English Organic Forum (EOF) and the sector are to provide using existing advisory services, with priority for sectors with the greatest import dependency. In years two to four, Defra is to negotiate with partners to set up an Organic Observatory that would publish regular data on trade, domestic production, land area, conversion rates and price differentials.

Public sector buying

The public sector in the UK spends approximately £5 billion a year on food and drink, the plan says. In year one, the EOF and the sector are to identify the organic commodities where domestic supply could most readily scale, starting with milk, cereals and seasonal vegetables, possibly through a working group with procurement leads including the Department for Education, NHS Supply Chain and the Government Commercial Agency. In years two to four, Defra is to publish guidance for contracting authorities on how organic products qualify under the Government Buying Standards.

Funding stays within existing schemes

The plan does not create a new payment. It says the Sustainable Farming Incentive (SFI) and Countryside Stewardship already pay for organic conversion and maintenance, and that the plan is designed to tackle barriers that payments alone cannot remove, such as information gaps, peer support, market access and supply chain development. Defra will keep the SFI organic offer under review. Delivery will be overseen jointly by Defra and the EOF.

Sos Stopes, co-chair of the EOF and policy advisor to Organic Farmers & Growers CIC, said in Defra’s release: “It is encouraging to see the Organic Action Plan for England published.” The forum has said delivery will be the real test and wants ringfenced SFI funding to give farmers confidence to convert, Farmers Weekly reported.

TAD’s reading

  • Input suppliers: Growth towards 10% organic land would shrink the addressable area for synthetic fertiliser and conventional crop protection in England and widen it for permitted organic inputs and certification services.
  • Processors and caterers: Milk, cereals and seasonal vegetables are where public sector demand for organic produce is most likely to appear first.
  • Farm businesses: With no new payment line, the economics of conversion still rest on SFI rates and on market premiums, which the proposed Observatory would make easier to track.
  • Policy: The 10% figure is framed as an ambition, so the annual indicators on land area and the trade gap will be the practical measure of progress.