Historic support for organic milk producers

Organic dairy producers received a significant financial boost in 2025. New financial data from Denmark Statistics show that the average operating result increased from 1.3 million DKK in 2024 to 3.8 million DKK in 2025. That's nearly a tripling—and an increase of 2.5 million DKK in just one year. At the same time, the return on investment rose to 7.8 percent—the highest level since Denmark Statistics began recording in 2008. For comparison, the average return on investment for organic dairy farms has been around 4.1 percent over the past ten years. Thus, 2025 also became a record year for the earnings of organic dairy producers measured by return on invested capital. Several factors influence the economy of organic dairy producers, assesses Claus Østergaard, head of Organic Advisory Denmark. Good harvests play a role, especially the excellent harvest in 2025 following two poor years. "It resulted in significantly higher yields of very good quality, which matters a lot when farmers can, for example, harvest their clover grass in one go at the right time—rather than splitting the harvest and trying to get it home between rain showers," says Claus Østergaard. But milk prices also play a crucial role. The price of milk increased from 2024 to 2025 by 41 øre to 4.08 DKK per kg for conventional farms and by 70 øre to 4.86 DKK per kg for organic farms. The price difference between organic and conventional milk has increased. In fact, only the conventional milk price experienced a decline during the fall of 2025—organic prices held steady. Hoping for conversions, the demand for organic milk suggests that the price will likely remain at this level for at least two more years, estimates Claus Østergaard. There is no indication that supply will increase—partly because not many have converted to organic, and conversions take two years. Now, Claus Østergaard hopes that the increased price gap between organic and conventional milk can motivate conventional producers to move toward conversion. However, since conventional milk prices are still relatively high and profitability is good there as well, a wave of conversions is not immediately expected, he assesses. "They are not motivated to switch and try something different; they just continue with what they have. One might think the opposite—that the higher prices could motivate investment in organic farming if they believe in its future. But many probably think that a good year won't be followed by a bad one," he says. Conventional dairy producers also experienced an unusually strong year, with an average operating result of 5.5 million DKK and a return on investment of 10.8 percent. But 2025 also marks a historic turning point for organic farms after several years of modest results. Organic crop production is also setting records. Denmark Statistics has not published separate financial data for organic crop farms, but figures for specialized crop farms show a clear improvement. Operating results increased from 0.8 million DKK to 1.3 million DKK in 2025. At the same time, gross yields grew to 8.5 million DKK, even though farms cultivated slightly less land than the previous year. When analyzing the gross yield data for organic crop production from Denmark Statistics over the entire period from 2008 to 2025, there is also a significant improvement in the "Income statement for full-time farms (average) by accounting items, farm type, annual work units for organic agriculture." The perfect combination: generally, the trend is upward, but the very impressive figures for income from organic crop production in 2025 may be even more closely linked to record yields than to developments in milk production. And this excellent yield comes after two poor years. Claus Østergaard believes this has been the perfect combination. "Both yield and quality were enormously good last year, whereas in 2023 and 2024, they were poor. Therefore, there was a very high price for, for example, oats because stocks from 2023 and 2024 were depleted. So, it was the perfect combination of a good growing season and a shortage of oats—that matters," he says. Full-time farming improves the economy: across all sectors, the average operating result for about 6,000 Danish full-time farms increased to 2.8 million DKK in 2025. That is 1.3 million DKK higher than the previous year and even higher than the record result in 2022. It is also the seventh consecutive year that Danish full-time farms have delivered a substantial positive result after owner’s salary calculations. Overall, the new data depict a year in which especially organic dairy producers experienced a remarkable economic breakthrough, while crop production also shows signs of improved profitability.