Organic farms are better for wildlife than those run conventionally, according to a study covering 180 farms from Cornwall to Cumbria.
The organic farms were found to contain 85% more plant species, 33% more bats, 17% more spiders and 5% more birds.
Scientists – from Oxford University, the British Trust for Ornithology, and the Centre for Ecology and Hydrology – spent five years on the research.
Funded by the government, it was the largest ever survey of organic farming.
“The exclusion of synthetic pesticides and fertilisers from organic is a fundamental difference between systems,” the study says.
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