Organic Growers Alliance CIC (the OGA) published 3 issues of The Organic Grower, including relevant news, technical and other information covering a wide range of topics relevant to organic horticulture in the UK. The website www.organicgrowersalliance.co.uk has been maintained and regularly updated: including up-to-date news and notice of events of interest; a forum for peer-to-peer advice and problem solving information, job vacancies, career opportunities and equipment sales; a library of technical articles, including all back issues of The Organic Grower and an index for this. A monthly e-newsletter is sent to all members and others who chose to be on the mailing list giving details of upcoming events, opportunities and other items of interest to the community. A programme of on-farm in-person and online events for organic growers continues in 2025. OGA ran nine events, including four online webinars and four on farm events across the UK, plus the OGA AGM which was a hybrid event with both in-person and online attendance. Online and in-person events: 28 January OGA On the Farm: Apple Tree Pruning at Middle Ground Growers 28 January OGA Webinar: To scale up or not to scale up? That is the question 20 Feb OGA Webinar: Business skills for market gardeners 22-23 Feb Organic Growers Alliance AGM and Winter Celebration 25 Feb OGA On the farm: Apple tree pruning at Avonleigh Orchards 18 March OGA On the Farm: Keep it lean: an on-farm workshop on veg boxes and caterpillar tunnels 25 March OGA Webinar: Biodegradable plastic film mulches and other alternatives 12 April OGA On the farm: Propagation at Delflands Nursery 29 April OGA Webinar: Living mulch experiment on 20 farms in Northeast US 22 August The Organic Growers Gathering. These events attracted a range of experienced but also new and prospective growers coming together to learn, and to share experiences through peer-to-peer learning. The OGA supported and promoted the Organic Growers Gathering held over three days in late summer 2025. This involved dedicating staff time to take part in meetings, site set up, promotion through the website, social media channels and the Organic Grower magazine; hosting a stall at the gathering to reach growers and build membership; being a partner of the event and supporting members and other growers working alongside each other and presenting detail of ongoing research and development. The OGA continue to host webinars covering a range of technical and other subjects for the community; alongside the OGA’s website these increasingly constitute a valuable online technical resource for UK organic growers. In partnership with Ecological Land Coop, CSA Network UK, Pasture for Life and Landworkers Alliance and funded by Farming the Future, the OGA did again participate in the Agroecology Research Collaboration (ARC) to promote research in the field, and to ensure that it better reflected growers’ needs and requirements. The OGA together with the CSA Network delivered a Scaling Up the Market Garden session at the Oxford Real Farming Conference. The OGA and CSA Network brought together growers who are successfully managing this transition to describe: Scaling the crops up - planning and techniques for 12 month production, field scale growing and crop storage. On-farm systems - staffing, technical systems and diversification. Off-farm interactions - routes to market, working with other growers and the community. The OGA is represented on and works with the English Organic Forum, collaborating with other organic organisations to continue to make a joint case to Defra for support for the sector in the ongoing reorganisation of farm payments post-Brexit, to ensure that the public and environmental benefits provided by the organic horticulture community are properly recognised and that its needs are addressed. Through the Welsh Organic Forum the OGA is involved in making the case to the Welsh government for organic horticulture in a still-evolving post-Brexit agricultural policy. We have been actively involved in developing the latest iteration of the Sustainable Farming Scheme, responding to consultation documents and taking part in co design workshops. Our main asks continue to centre on aspects particular to organic horticulture, such as with the basis on which growers are paid; area payment seriously disadvantages growers, and we have been pushing forward an alternative system for horticulture, based on labour requirements. In Scotland the OGA is making its voice heard to the Scottish government through the Scottish Organic Stakeholders Group. We also had OGA directors at the Soil Association’s first Organic Gathering to be held in Scotland. The OGA sits on the Soil Association’s Farmer And Grower Board, which discusses issues affecting organic farmers and growers, putting farmers’ and growers’ points of view to the Soil Association and helping to shape policy, marketing, certification and responses to events. The board meets four times a year in Bristol, and stays in contact via email. The OGA asks questions and makes representations to the Soil Association on behalf of growers here.

The Organic Growers Alliance CIC’s stakeholders are the organic horticulture community. At the end of August the OGA had 463 members among this community across the country, which is a decrease of 27 members from the total of 490 August 2024. Directors and staff have made it clear through a number of articles and emails to the members that they are actively seeking and always open to suggestions from the community by email, phone or in person. OGA is active on social media: staff and directors are active on relevant forums to draw out what topics are of current interest to growers, and to inform decisions. The above helped inform the decision to publish an irrigation supplement and choose topics for the conference, webinars, and events. In 2025, we received core funding from the Sheepdrove Trust which enabled OGA to employ a full-time coordinator. Steven Jacobs stood down as an OGA director when he was invited to take up this role. Following Steven’s employment and due to our ability to have somebody full-time at operational side of the OGA our board meetings moved to one meeting per quarter. Steven is working closely with OGA admin and membership coordinator, Holly Jarvis, and reports to the OGA board, principally with Elizabeth Charles. Board and staff regularly discuss key areas (e.g. training) and formulate policies and strategies for these; individuals from outside the board with relevant experience and expertise were invited to aid directors in these. Other organic organisations also have an interest in the progress of organic horticulture, and OGA have continued to work hard building stronger links so that our work can inform, complement and amplify each others’ efforts to the benefit of the community. The OGA AGM 2025 was held at St Werburghs Community Centre in Bristol. We delivered a programme of events, including an announcement on the new funding from the Sheepdrove Trust, and the appointment of Steven as OGA coordinator. The AGM also heard from OGA representatives in the home nations of Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales with Organic Growers Ireland supplying news and updates from the Republic of Ireland. On the Sunday we headed over to the Community Farm at Chew Magna, where staff and volunteers took us on a tour of the site talking through how they work as a not-for-profit, social enterprise within their community. To further imbed co-operation with other relevant organisations and representation of younger and more diverse growers, work has been put in throughout the year on building OGA profile amongst growers to inform and try to encourage feedback and interest from people who could step up & get more involved in the organisation. As well as strengthening OGA’s impact, this work improves the quality of both the content and presentation of OGA’s activities all of which is aimed at addressing our community’s concerns and interests. A regular monthly email newsletter informs the community of OGA’s activities, and asks for feedback, volunteer input and constructive suggestions. Directors and staff have canvassed growers’ opinions, and sought to actively involve them in OGA’s work; all directors are voluntary and the Board includes working growers in prominent roles. These consultations underpinned and guided the whole direction and all aspects of OGA’s work throughout the year.

No remuneration was received

No transfer of assets other than for full consideration