Factors inhibiting the expansion of organic farming in Austria. Analysis of a survey of those farms agreeing to a renunciation of means of production which increase yield

摘要

The Austrian Environmental Programme includes two measures which apply to the farm enterprise as a whole: renunciation of means of production which increase yield (implemented on so-called BV-farms) and organic production methods. The restrictions on land management on BV-farms are similar to those applying to organic farms, but do not cover animal husbandry. A survey of the willingness of BV-farms to convert to organic farming was carried out in order to investigate the factors inhibiting this conversion. This paper first presents selected survey results. The data derived from those enterprises not intending to convert to organic farming are then used in a factor analysis. This analysis identified four key factors out of the 13 inhibitors addressed in the survey, and these can be described as labour economics, real net output, enterprise development and the investment costs for animal housing.