The most important principles of organic farming include:
- Animal husbandry tied to land
- Protection of the environment
- The conscious use of natural resources
- Use exclusively of natural minerals for soil and plants
- Waiver of synthetic nitrogen and chemical-synthetic pesticides and fungicides
- Maintaining of local eco-system and active landscape conservation
- Strict exclusion of genetically engineered manipulations
The most important duties of the organic farmer include that his actions promote and maintain in a preventative and foresighted manner the biological self-regulation of existing eco-systems - also described as a circular economy.
The transition phase from conventional to ecological management takes 24 months and one harvest. The legal framework is hereby determined by the EU directive on »Ecological Farming«, which so far only regulates the production, identification and control of agricultural produce. In Germany, animal products are in addition subject to the regulations of IFOAM and the AGÖL associations, which include regulations regarding the production and identification as well as inspection and documentation conditions which the ecologically operating farmer agrees to accept.