A true mixed farming approach delivers ups and downs for our South West organic Management Matters farm. There's no denying that it is tough going for the organic sector at the moment. Retail sales continue to struggle and many producers have alreadyswitched bade to conventional production in a bid to improve margins - numbers fell 5°/o last year, according to the Soil Association. However Clinton Devon Farms manager George Perrott believes the decline in organic production has dropped off quickerthan the fall in sales, which is creating opportunities for those who remain, especially in the dairy sector. The farm's organic milk price for February supports this theory, averaging 43.4p/litre across both 250-cow herds. It was the first time for a year that Dairy Crest's organic price had not been modulated, meaning that the entire milk volume supplied that month attracted the organic premium.
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