The Organic Action Plan for this region will be launched soon.

The South East region includes Berkshire, Buckinghamshire, Hampshire, Kent, Oxfordshire, Surrey and East and West Sussex. Even though the South East is densely populated, more than 80% of the region is classified as rural. One third of its countryside is protected for its landscape quality and 10% of UK farms are located within the region. Agriculture and horticulture employ 50,000 people in the region.

Arable farming is the predominant farming type in the region (almost 14% of England's cereal crop is grown in the South East), along with horticulture. Growers in Kent, Hampshire and East and West Sussex produce more than 50% of Britain's eating apples, 65% of cooking apples, over 75% of pears and 90% of English cherries. In addition, more than one third of UK lettuces are produced in the South East and much production of salad crops is concentrated in West Sussex on the coastal plain.

In terms of organic significance the South East region accounts for almost 10% (422) of all UK organic producers (4,343) and about 23% (498) of total organic processors in the UK (2,135). The organic land area in the South East is 47,190 hectares (ha) – including in-conversion land – or 7.5% of a total of 631,144ha in the UK (Defra, 2006).


South East organic trading website
Visit the new South East organic trading website. This site contains a directory of organic farmers and food processors in the region with enterprises, facilities or good business practice. The site is currently under development and we would welcome your feedback.


News:

• Latest abattoir news: Tottingworth Farms Ltd, the abattoir at Heathfield, East Sussex, have decided not to continue to offer a service for organic cattle and pig farmers. However, they will continue to slaughter organic lambs. Coopers Abattoir at Aldington, near Ashford in Kent has recently changed hands and they are licensed by Soil Association Certification Ltd as Aldington Abattoir. They are licensed for organic beef, sheep and pigs. Contact Mick, the abattoir manager, on 01233 721501

» Organic action plan consultation meeting - South East provisional outcomes [PDF, 95 KB]
» The state of the organic sector in the South East [PDF, 272 KB]
» Organic statistics in the South East 2007 [PDF, 3286KB]
» Organic statistics in the South East 2006 [PDF, 3.3 MB]
» Contact Sarah Blackford on sblackford@soilassociation.org, T: 01424 830 613