Organic farming (OF) and organic food production have more than 20 years of tradition in the Czech Republic. The longest established organic farms have proven that this precisely-defined agricultural system is viable without any need for synthetic pesticides, fertilizer or other intensification methods. The main driving forces in the development of Czech OF are subsidies paid within agro environmental measures and, not insignificantly, the interest of consumers and traders in Czech organic raw materials and development of the domestic organic market. At present approximately 483,176 hectares of land in CZ are farmed organically; this figure represents 11.4% of total agricultural acreage. In this respect, the Czech Republic is above the EU average. There are about 4,022 farms varying significantly in size, with a predominant focus on grassland, although the number of cash crop producers has been increasing. There are small organic farms e.g. of just 5 ha acreage but also whole former cooperatives or state farms with acreage of over 1,000 ha. The Czech Republic is the leader in the field of organic farming among new EU member countries. Every year 1 billion CZK (40 million  EUR) is paid in the form of subsidies to Czech organic farmers.