The West Midlands region is made up of Herefordshire, Shropshire, Staffordshire, Warwickshire and Worcestershire. Rural economy has traditionally relied heavily on the land-based sector, particularly agriculture. Farming across the West Midlands varies from the domination of livestock farming in the rural west to intensive arable farming in Warwickshire and parts of Shropshire. However, while agriculture is still responsible for the management of around 75% of the land area in the region, the industry's contribution to regional Gross Domestic Product (GDP) has been in decline and is likely to diminish further.

Nevertheless, the diversity of the industry across the region and its contribution to the environment is still important. (GO West Midlands). Agriculture also plays a significant role in the region, not only in terms of food production and protection and enhancement of the environment, but also tourism, recreation and health. It has been estimated that the West Midlands food and drink industry accounts for around 170,000 employees, equivalent to about 7% of the regional economy. It is a complex and differentiated industry, extending literally from 'plough to plate' and embracing activities as diverse as farming, food and drink processing, manufacturing and food service. Around £18 billion of turnover in the food and drink cluster is generated by the food manufacturing sector and a significant number of these businesses in the region are based in the West Midlands conurbation.

The top five manufacturing business types in the region (in terms of number of enterprises) are food manufacturers and processors, meat and poultry suppliers, dairies, cake and decorations manufacturers, frozen food manufacturers. (Countryside Agency, State of the Countryside in the West Midlands, 2003).

In terms of organic significance the West Midlands region accounts for approximately 7.8% (338) of all UK organic producers (4,343). Organic land area in the region covers an area of 29,730ha (of which 3,123ha is in-conversion), representing 4.8% of a total of 631,144ha in the UK (Defra, 2006).

West Midlands organic trading website
Visit the new West Midlands organic trading website. This site contains a directory of organic farmers and food processors in the region with enterprises, facilities or good business practice. The site is currently under development and we would welcome your feedback.

Further information:

» West Midlands Organic Action Plan [PDF, 768 KB]
» The state of the organic sector in the West Midlands [PDF, 275 KB]
» Organic statistics in the West Midlands 2007 [PDF, 3,274 KB]
» Organic statistics in the West Midlands 2006 [PDF, 3.3 MB]
» Organic action plan consultation meeting - West Midlands provisional outcomes [PDF, 114 KB]