Andrea Leadsom, the new Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, faces an unenviable task: putting farmers out of business. Those that survive will rely on advanced pesticides and intensified, genetically-modified crops. […]
With mixed signals being sent to farmers by EU authorities on pesticides and herbicides, what other options are there for food producers? Part 1 in a two part series by Oliver Moore. […]
The explosion of farmers’ markets has been driven by consumer desire and convenience. The economic realities for farmers still sit uncomfortably alongside the practice of many farmers’ markets. […]
The UK faces the prospect of rethinking its agriculture from scratch during the Brexit process. Less than a month after the vote, farming minister George Eustice told BBC Wales that he could not guarantee future agricultural support programmes would be as generous as current EU subsidies. […]
The organic dairy sector in France has significant differences – but also some commonalities – with the conventional dairy sector. Rising consumer demand, producer organisations, and regional feed crop supply are among the differences – as is the decoupling of organic and conventional prices. […]
Le secteur laitier biologique en France présente de différences importantes – mais aussi quelques points communs – par rapport au secteur laitier conventionnel. La demande croissante des consommateurs, les organisations de producteurs et l’offre régionale de cultures fourragères figurent parmi les différences – tout comme le découplage des prix biologiques et conventionnels. Article de Biolait, la première coopérative laitière biologique en France. […]
In his second contribution to this #MilkCrisis debate, Alan Matthews considers contributions thus far and also the recent development of EU-wide voluntary reductions as part of a €500 million package. […]
As has been the case with the UK’s new post-Brexit referendum Ministers, the now head of farming, food, rural affairs and environment has made some unusual utterances in the recent past. Peter Crosskey let’s us get to know Andrea Leadsom a little better. […]
Silvia Däberitz, managing director with the European Milk Board, gives us their second article in our #MilkCrisis debate. In this she critiques some of the suggestions so far for dealing with the crisis, while emphasising their own position on overproduction. […]
A seven part E500 million package of aid for the agri sector has been announced. Which sectors and Member States benefit? […]
The UK’s new Minister with responsibility for farming and food may want to change how CAP and subsidies work. Pillar 1 type payments may be dropped and the delicate balance between farming and nature – especially on farms – may change radically. Miles King explains. […]
A new package of supports and a first year review of CAP greening are two of the key items on the agenda for the Agriculture and Fisheries Council meeting on Monday 18th July in Brussels. […]
By Shefali Sharma, European Director IATP, 12.07.2016 The Institute for Trade Policy’s European Office, along with international group Compassion in World Farming (CIWF), German member of Via Campesina—Arbeitsgemeinschaft bäuerliche Landwirtschaft e.V. (AbL) and PowerShift launched their new report Selling Off the Farm: Corporate Meat’s Takeover through TTIP with a panel discussion and a press briefing at the European Parliament on the 12th July. Some key findings from the report: Many new agricultural and food technologies are being developed or already utilized with limited or no regulation. TTIP will make rulemaking in the public interest much more difficult in the future for technologies such as gene editing and cloning. Labour and environmental regulations related to the meat industry are inadequate on both sides of the Atlantic and need to be strengthened. Trade unions and environmental campaigns have achieved incremental gains; however, TTIP is likely to make it difficult to improve regulations. The chilling effect of TTIP’s (de)regulatory cooperation provisions will make it increasingly challenging in the future to effectively regulate impacts of the meat industry on climate change […]
Continuing with our #MilkCrisis debate series, this interview with Aurélie Trouvé, agricultural economist, focuses on the voluntary market control measures announced in March. Trouvé also uses this interview to deal with broader issues of voluntary vs compulsory measures, EU dairy in a global context, and the various solutions on offer. […]
Having announced its intention to try to approve The Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement – CETA – with Canada today, 5th July, the Commission has back tracked. Approval will now be sought from Member States’ national parliaments, though there are still caveats and concerns for campaigners. […]
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