Best Practices for Organic Policy - What developing country - UNEP

Agriculture conditions
Annex 3. Denmark
Denmark has a temperate climate, especially suitable for growing grain (wheat and barley), which is
done on 60 per cent of the farmland. Most of the grain is used for the pig industry, and 23 million pigs
are produced for slaughtering every year, three quarters of which are exported. Dairy is another
important sector, for both the domestic market and export. In total, two thirds of agricultural
production is exported, which constitutes seven per cent of total Danish exports. Farming represents
2.7 per cent of the GDP 58 , 62 per cent of the Danish surface is cultivated and the proportion of
marginal land is low.
For centuries, farming has been the main industry in Denmark and, even though the impact of farming
in the Danish economy is declining, it still plays a vital role. The number of farms has rapidly
declined as farm size has increased and employment has shifted from primary agriculture to the
processing industry. Owner-occupancy is widespread and the majority of the enterprises within the
Danish food industry are cooperatives owned and governed by the farmers themselves 59 .
Organic agriculture
Six per cent of the agricultural land is organically managed. The average size of an organic farm
(50.6 ha) is a little smaller than for conventional agriculture (54.5 ha), but there are many small
organic farms, as well as large ones (>100 ha). There are few organic pig producers compared to
conventional farming, but the share of organic dairy farms is large.
Table 7. Development of organic farms and farming area,
1989–2004 60
Year Number of farms Organic area Per cent of conventional
1989 401 9 554 0.4%
1990 523 11 581 0.4%
1991
1992
672
675
17 963
18 653
0.7%
0.7%
1993 640 20 090 0.8%
1994 677 21 145 0,8%
1995 1 050 40 884 1.5%
1996 1 166 46 171 1.7%
1997 1 617 64 329 2.4%
1998 2 228 99 163 3.7%
1999 3 099 146 685 5.5%
2000 3 466 165 258 6.2%
2001 3 525 173 497 6.5%
2002 3 714 178 359 6.6%
2003 3 510 168 022 6.3%
2004 3 166 160 209 6.0%
Organic markets
Organic farming in Denmark originally developed for the domestic market. In the beginning, it was
mainly vegetables that were sold at the farm gate and at farmers’ markets. The situation is very
different today, with 85 per cent of all organic products being sold through the supermarkets. In 1982,
58 Statistisk tiårsoversigt 2005. Danmarks Statistik 2005. DK.
59 Danish Agriculture at home and abroad. Danish Agricultural Council 2005 (www.landbrugsraadet.dk).
60 Statistik over økologiske jordbrugsbedrifter 2004. Plantedirektoratet juli 2005. DK.
57