Inside Defra’s EAP Review: Key learnings for the organic sector

by organicresearchcentre

The Soil Association and Organic Research Centre invite you to rewatch a webinar discussing the evidence for certified organic farming’s contribution to environmental outcomes. Adrian Steele, Dr Julia Cooper and Rowan Dumper-Pollard review key findings from a recent Environmentally Assured Production (EAP) evidence review conducted by the Organic Research Centre (ORC) for Defra – (Cooper et al. 2025), A review of the role of environmentally assured production in supporting environmental goals, and a price and cost benefit analysis. The review provides a robust and timely assessment of the contribution of certified organic farming to environmental outcomes, alongside a clear articulation of current evidence gaps and limitations.

See below for a list of resources/projects that were highlighted in the webinar or are especially relevant: 

• Find ORC’s press release about the research here and full report here.
• Find out more about our speakers Rowan Dumper-Pollard and Julia Cooper
• Defra’s Farming Roadmap: Farming Roadmap 2050 – GOV.UK
• Soil Association Certification are running an exciting pilot to explore how farmer‑led data can work in practice, delivering value for individual farms while strengthening the evidence base for what organic farming offers. Pilot participants will get free access to the Soil Association Exchange platform. Exclusive to Soil Association Certification clients who can find out more by emailing SACL.Notifications@soilassociation.org
• The “Give Peas a Chance” project: https://www.soilassociation.org/what-we-do/soil-association-scotland/food-for-life-scotland/how-give-peas-a-chance-increased-organic-spend-in-aberdeen-city/
• Adrian highlighted some IBERS research from University of Aberystwyth. Dr Hannah Vallin is working on how DNA metabarcoding is being used to identify the best species and traits for grazing, with the potential to develop forage crops that improve livestock diets, reduce methane output and allow animals to retain more energy from less feed.