Benefits of organic certification for farmers and growers
Soil Association Certification is the UK’s leading organic certification body. With over 50 years’ experience in organic certification, we’re the trusted organic experts, with dedicated technical, inspection and certification teams and a wealth of practical knowledge and expertise to support your farm business.
There are exciting opportunities for farmers producing British food and drink. The organic market is growing strongly and public interest in nature-friendly farming is on the rise.
Certifying or converting to organic
We help you to navigate the requirements of organic conversion and certification, inspect your business to organic standards and provide you with an organic licence to sell your products with use of the Soil Association organic symbol. This is the most widely recognised and trusted organic symbol in the UK.
We certify all farm sizes and enterprises, from beef, sheep and dairy, and large-scale arable holdings to field-scale horticulture and market gardens. We also provide organic certification for on-farm processing and packing, supporting you to add value to your products and grow your business by selling direct.
Soil Association Certification is essential to our business, and the organic logo is recognised throughout the country. It is a badge of quality and is important to our customers.
Why choose organic certification?
There are a range of benefits to certifying organic with Soil Association Certification, including a practical, friendly and efficient certification service and additional benefits to help support your farm business.
Efficient and dedicated support during conversion and certification
experienced certification, technical and inspection teams with a wealth of expertise in organic farming
joint inspections with other schemes, such as Red Tractor, Farm Assurance and Pasture for Life to save you time
Technical expertise and supply chain support
representation across key sectors, including feed and seed availability and regulatory changes
farming support from the Soil Association charity, including access to technical guides, Organic Farming Magazine subscription and access to the expertise of their Farming and Land Use team
Soil Association’s knowledge sharing programmes foster on-farm innovation and help measure the climate, nature and health outcomes that your farm delivers
use of the Organic Marketplace to access supply chain opportunities and buy and sell products from other organic producers, such as livestock, forage and land
Industry insights and recognition
use of the Soil Association organic symbol, the UK’s most recognised organic symbol
access to organic market and consumer information with regular webinars, events, forums and insights sessions
access to the annual Organic Market Report detailing market growth, insights and trends
Support for the organic market and farming industry
we represent organic farmers at government and trade level, to ensure organic farmers are recognised and rewarded for the public goods they deliver
as a not-for-profit business, surplus income is gift aided to the Soil Association charity to develop, build and safeguard the organic industry and the wider sustainable food and farming sector
We carry out joint inspections with other schemes such as Red Tractor, Pasture for Life and Farm Assured Welsh Livestock.
On-farm packing and processing
We support you to develop your supply chains, sell direct and grow your business.
As part of our organic certification for on-farm processing and packing, we can help add value to your products, sell into short supply chains and provide additional marketing and supply chain support to help grow your organic business. We will:
offer competitive fees for on-farming packing and processing to help you add value to your products and sell direct and via short supply chains
provide free marketing materials to help communicate the benefits of organic to your customers
list your farm shop or box scheme on our website to attract new customers
give you the chance to get involved with our established industry recognised campaigns, including Organic September and the Best of Organic Market (BOOM) Awards
As a grower I receive a huge degree of confidence because Soil Association Certification has experts that really understand my business.
Business benefits of organic farming
Hear from two organic farmers about the benefits organic farming can bring to your business.
Economically, we are performing even better than our conventional system. However, we’re doing that whilst significantly increasing employment, improving soil quality and biodiversity, and over time we expect profitability to increase further.
Strickley Farm
Strickley is an organic dairy farm near Kendal in South Cumbria which has been farmed by the same family since 1875. To help secure the farm's future, they reduced their reliance on artificial fertilisers and expensive inputs, introduced herbal leys, and began to grow more of their own crops.
Learn more about organic certification
Find out all you need to know about certification for farmers and growers.