More than one in 10 of the UK’s wildlife species are threatened with extinction, with numbers of those most endangered falling by two-thirds since 1970, according to the RSPB’s State of Nature 2016 report [PDF]. The number of farmland birds has declined by 54% since 1970, and butterflies by 41% since 1976.
It’s a loss that has been driven by the intensification of farming to produce our food, fuelled by an increased use of pesticides and fertilisers to keep weeds and pests at bay and help crops grow. This is bad news for wildlife, as it not only takes away potential food sources for birds, mammals and other animals, but can also poison them and contaminate local watercourses. Marginal habitats, such as ponds and hedgerows, have also been lost in the drive to grow more food.
There is, however, hope. “It’s not all bad news,” says the organic charity the Soil Association. “Organic farms are havens for wildlife and provide homes for bees, birds and butterflies.” According to one study, organic farms contain, on average, 30% more species and 50% more plant, insect and bird life than conventional farms.
This boost in wildlife is a result of organic practices, including growing a greater variety and rotation of crops, having bigger and more diverse hedgerows, and avoiding the use of pesticides to protect crops from weeds, insects and diseases. This means organic farms are home to more insects, weeds and other plants that can then, for example, feed birds through the winter months.
By maintaining hedgerows, farmers provide more food and shelter for wildlife, including mice, birds and insects. While large tracts of hedgerows have been removed, the estimated 450,000km (280,000 miles) that remain may support up to 80% of our woodland birds, 50% of our mammals and 30% of our butterflies, according to the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds. The ditches and banks associated with hedgerows also provide habitat for frogs and toads.
For organic farmers, it’s about farming with as much wildlife as is manageable. “I like to think of my land as open to wildlife rather than abandoning it,” says Guy Singh-Watson, farmer and founder of the organic delivery business Riverford.
For the UK as a whole, however, the benefits of organic farming for our wildlife are limited, with less than 3% of agricultural land in the country currently farmed organically. The difficulties and challenges of farming organically, together with uncertain consumer support, has held back further uptake among UK farmers.
A modest conversion payment is available from the government to farmers converting to organic, but they get no ongoing additional support. With lower yields of crops (about 20% according to one study), the sector relies on consumer support – and the commitment of producers – to survive.
They also cannot rely on supermarkets to take their produce – their avoidance of pest-controlling chemicals means they have to deal with more variability in terms of quality. The carrots produced by Patrick Holden, the former head of organic trade body the Soil Association, were infamously rejected by his supermarket buyer over quality issues. “Supermarkets are preaching localism but it’s just tokenism. Their systems are still going in the opposite direction, and it’s disastrous,” he says.
Singh-Watson’s organic farm, in south Devon, survives through his UK-wide vegetable box scheme. “It’s very difficult if you are supplying a supermarket. A lot of pesticides are used quite unnecessarily, because the farmer cannot afford to have their crop rejected by buyers.”
But using less pesticides and other organic practices may be beneficial for consumers, as well as biodiversity. An analysis by researchers at Newcastle University found that organic crops were up to 60% higher in a number of key antioxidants than conventionally grown ones.
Author Carlo Leifert said concentrations of antioxidants such as polyphenolics were between 18-69% higher in organically-grown crops. Numerous studies have linked antioxidants to a reduced risk of chronic diseases, including cardiovascular and neurodegenerative diseases and certain cancers.
Plants produce many of their antioxidant compounds to fight back against pest attacks, so the higher levels in organic crops may result from their lack of protection by chemical sprays, say researchers.
The study, completed in 2014, also found that pesticide residues were four times more likely to be found in conventional crops than organic ones.
The study’s conclusions have been questioned by other academics, who said there were not enough high-quality studies to support the conclusion that organic food was nutritionally different to conventionally produced food. A review by the UK food standards agency in 2009 found that organic food provides no significant health benefits over conventionally produced food.
But Leifert has called for more research on the issue. “We have shown, without doubt, that there are composition differences between organic and conventional crops. Now there is an urgent need to carry out well-controlled human dietary intervention and quantify the health impacts of switching to organic food.”
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