This study comprehensively analyzed the dynamic landscape of organic farming in the European Union (EU) from 2004 to 2021, investigating the shifts in dedicated agricultural areas influenced by evolving preferences and the priorities of farmers and consumers. Examining the impact of socio-economic factors, including gross domestic product (GDP) per capita, the human development index (HDI), and human population density, this study established multivariate relationships through country-level analyses based on correlations, principal component analysis, cluster analysis, and panel analysis. Despite a universal increase in the organic agriculture areas across all the EU countries during the study period, the production levels exhibited negative correlations with the human population density, GDP per capita, and HDI. Notably, the Baltic countries and Austria led in organic farming production, while Malta, the Netherlands, Belgium, Ireland, and Luxemburg formed a distinct group in the cluster analysis with less intensive organic agriculture per capita. These insights are crucial for supporting the resilience and sustainability of organic farming as it continues to evolve. Predictions of organic agriculture share for 2030 based on trends evaluated using linear regression in the years 2004–2021 estimated about 12% of utilized agricultural area, which was much lower than the target share of the European Commission at 25%. Predictions based on linear regression showed that achieving the European Green Deal target of a 25% share of organic agriculture in unlikely in most EU countries by 2030. The target is only highly probable to be obtained in Austria, Estonia, and Sweden. The EU countries varied significantly across various indices characterizing organic agriculture, including organic agriculture area share. It should be noted that the study was conducted on the data obtained prior to the outbreak of the war in Ukraine, which could potentially alter the previous trends in the development of organic agriculture in the EU.

Grain legumes are important in organic cropping systems because biological nitrogen fixation reduces dependence on external N inputs. We analysed 2022–2025 data from two separate Polish COBORU cultivar-testing networks conducted at 52 distinct experimental stations/trial sites across the main agricultural regions of Poland: an organic network (approximately five soybean and 7–8 field pea and narrow-leaved lupin locations annually) and a conventional post-registration network (27–33 locations per species). Trial soils spanned agricultural values of 52–94 points, pH 4.6–7.5, available P 40–190 mg kg⁻¹ and K 60–240 mg kg⁻¹; soybean and pea were tested mainly on wheat/wheat–rye complexes, whereas lupin was concentrated on lighter rye complexes. Because the networks were spatially independent, all comparisons are network-level and descriptive rather than causal. Mean soybean yield was 3.77 t ha⁻¹ in the organic network and 3.50 t ha⁻¹ in the conventional network (+7.7%), but the annual difference changed from +13.2% in 2022 and +22.8% in 2023 to approximately 0% in 2024 and −8.0% in 2025. Organic-network mean yields of field pea and narrow-leaved lupin were 21.6% and 11.6% lower than the corresponding conventional-network means, respectively. For soybean, very early/early, medium-early/medium-late and late/very late groups yielded 3.28 vs. 3.11, 4.04 vs. 3.64 and 3.93 vs. 3.83 t ha⁻¹, respectively; the medium-early/medium-late group showed the largest positive network difference (+11.0%) and therefore merits further common-site validation. Field pea showed less lodging in the organic network (6.63 vs. 5.70; 9 = no/minimal lodging). Precipitation–yield relationships were non-monotonic, indicating that annual totals alone did not explain yield variation. Conventional fertilizer ranges were 16–36 kg N, 34–45 kg P₂O₅ and 59–80 kg K₂O ha⁻¹; permitted mineral P and K inputs in organic trials averaged only 1–3 kg P₂O₅ and 3–9 kg K₂O ha⁻¹. Synthetic herbicides were prohibited in organic trials, whereas harmonized herbicide-use intensity in the conventional network could not be reconstructed from the annual summaries. Indicative 2025 gross-margin scenarios were EUR 1424 vs. 407 ha⁻¹ for soybean, EUR 264 vs. −59 ha⁻¹ for pea and EUR −20 vs. −449 ha⁻¹ for lupin (organic vs. conventional), with strong sensitivity to assumed organic price premiums.