ORGANIC farmers in Mid Devon are urged to start organising their winter feed early to avoid a repeat of last year's crisis.

China banned organic soya exports in 2007 after a disastrous protein bean harvest, causing supplies to dry up in the UK.

Frustrated farmers were left out of pocket when the lack of protein drove down milk yields among organic dairy herds.

So experts at Mid Devon-based Mole Valley Farmers are advising customers to stock up now on some of the feed they will need during the coming winter months.

Organic seed specialist Nigel Bond explained that organic farms were more susceptible to worldwide fluctuations in supply because of their more precise needs.

"Conventional farmers suffer when food prices rise dramatically, but they can still source feed if they are willing to pay the right price," he said.

"However, organic growing is much more at risk to weather problems because of the way the crops are grown without chemicals.

"This means that whatever price farmers are willing to pay, the supplies are difficult to obtain."

Mole Valley colleague Pete Isaac added: "Last year caught out a lot of farmers who struggled. They had to cope as best they could without protein.

"Although the welfare of the cows did not suffer, it did have an effect on milk production."

Mole Valley say that a stagnation in UK organic arable production means farmers will remain dependent on increasingly expensive imports priced according to the rising value of the Euro.

Farmers are also being told to expect a hike in the cost of supplies from China as they have imposed export taxes on some feed commodities.

And organic farmers are also finding themselves being being squeezed by the supermarkets due to a slight drop in demand caused by the economic downturn.

James Trebble, head of agri production for Mole Valley Feed Solutions, said: "To maintain profit margins, farm gate prices for organic produce would need to increase, in the case of milk to around 40p per litre.

"This is less likely in the current 'post-credit crunch' economy, which means that to maintain margins, producers will have to optimise production costs and output.

"Demand for organic produce has increased strongly during the last 12 months, but the signs are that sales growth is slowing and in some cases declining as consumers migrate to cheaper products."

However, industry experts say the outlook for the organic sector is not all gloomy because they expect organically-produced goods to retain solid support from a core of existing customers.