Organic dairy farming in Norway under the 100% organically produced feed requirement

Summary

The EU regulation governing organic production will require 100% organic feed in organic dairy systems from August 2005 compared with 85% currently in Norway. This study aimed to assess adjustments in resource use and financial impacts on organic dairy herds using a discrete stochastic programming model. Farm management effects of the regulatory change varied between farm types. For the two organic dairy systems examined, both having a milk quota of 100 000 litres but with varying farmland availability, the introduction of the 100% organic feed regulation resulted in an economic loss of approximately 6-8% of the net income compared to the current regime. The economic loss was mainly due to the considerable higher price of organic compared to conventional concentrates.