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Ukraine Joining the EU – An Elephant in the Room

April 3, 2023 ARC

If Ukraine joins the European Union, and the current Common Agricultural Policy system of per hectare payments remains untransformed, oligarch-run conglomerates could become eligible for tens of millions of euros in taxpayer money. But this is not the only possible agricultural reality in an enlarged EU. There are farmers, researchers, civic initiatives and officials – like the delegates of Ukraine’s Vinnytsia region who visited Low Saxony in March 2023 – exploring ways to rebuild and reorient the country’s farming and food system in times of war. […]

CAP, the Commission and Livestock Supports – Money Matters

March 17, 2023 ARC

There is a perception that, when it comes to the farming end of the agri-food system, CAP is primarily about supporting land owners and family farms. Is this the case? And even if so, does the Commission sometimes use the basic underpinnings of CAP to gloss over what are in fact significant, embedded supports for the most intensive end of the farming systems, including livestock? What does this mean for other producers? We attended a webinar on livestock recently, and these questions came to the fore. […]

France | Pesticides, PDOs & Plenty of Spin at Salon de l’Agriculture 2023

March 1, 2023 Matteo Metta

Running since 1964, the Salon International de l’Agriculture in Paris is a microcosm of the knotted landscape around French agriculture. Visiting it for one day gives just a flavour of the much larger diversity, longer history, and deeper issues of this sector so important for French identities in France and Europe. We visited the 2023 opening day, curious to meet people, understand what is exhibited and what is not, and how. Here are our main takeaways. Photo reportage by Matteo Metta. […]

“CAP is an Aberration in terms of Climate & Environmental Impact of Ag”

February 27, 2023 Hannes Lorenzen

This weekend the Salon de l’Agriculture kicked off in Paris. Beyond the romanticised picture of farming presented at big agri-food fairs like this, the food and farming system shows no sign of change. So it is with the new CAP, which locks in unsustainable agricultural practices while eroding European cohesion. Carbon farming, offered as a solution, will change nothing in substance. Plus ça change, argues ARC2020 President Hannes Lorenzen in an Op-Ed for Le Monde. […]

German CAP Strategic Plan: Bold Changes Required

February 27, 2023 Mathieu Willard

The new funding period of the Common Agricultural Policy has begun. The EU member states, including Germany, have all developed National Strategic Plans to implement the new EU requirements. However, as the following article shows, this reform and its national implementation are not sufficient to achieve environmental, climate, animal wellfare and social objectives. […]

Regional Carbon Farming? An Italian Example

February 23, 2023 Mathieu Willard

Can local or regional carbon farming programs provide a place-based alternative to a EU-wide, standardised, CAP ressembling carbon farming protocol? A look into the Rete Rurale Nazionale in Italy, and how private agencies in France are responding to the public sector request for carbon farming. […]

Czech CAP Strategic Plan – Redistributive Payments and the Counter-Productive Tension Between Small and Big

February 2, 2023 Terezie Daňková

The Czech CAP Stragic Plan has now been approved by the European Commission. Agricultural associations had been protesting against the proposed 23% share of direct payments. Terezie Daňková, a Czech farmer from South Bohemia, helps us understand the intricate history and structural composition of Czech farming. […]

Brexit Bites – Farming in Britain after CAP

January 27, 2023 Marianne Landzettel

On 26 January, the future of post-Brexit agricultural policy in England became clearer with the government’s announcement of six new standards under its Sustainable Farming Incentive. While English farmers may cautiously welcome this long-awaited update, serious challenges remain for the sector in England, and across the United Kingdom. Marianne Landzettel reports. […]

Oxford Real Farming Conference 2023 | Agroecology Movement Gathers for Hope and Action

January 22, 2023 Ursula Billington

Reflecting on the Oxford Real Farming Conference, which took place earlier this month, Ursula Billington traces common threads that emerged from the rich programme. […]

A-ction, R-esilience, C-ritical Mass – Hannes Lorenzen’s Letter to 2023

January 17, 2023 Hannes Lorenzen

President of ARC2020 Hannes Lorenzen’s New Year’s letter to set the scene for the year. We spell ARC2023 like this: Action on CAP – Rural resilience – and a Critical mass for system change […]

Oxford Real Farming Conference 2023 | Sixteen Must-See Sessions

January 4, 2023 Ursula Billington

It looks set to be another stimulating start to the year for real foodies and regenerative farmers as the Oxford Real Farming Conference, “the largest gathering of the agroecological movement on the planet”, returns from 4 – 6 January 2023. […]

Rural Realities | Succession – Passing It (All) On To The Next Generation

November 21, 2022 ARC

For farmers, succession is more than just passing on the physical farm, land and buildings. Once you build up a successful farming enterprise, how do you ensure all of that knowledge and experience is not lost? It’s a question that preoccupies all of the farmers who participated in the “Nos Campagnes en Résilience” project. Part two of a series analysing the hot topics around transition, by the “Nos Campagnes en Résilience” team. […]

Passing of Michael Dower, a European Englishman

November 15, 2022 Hannes Lorenzen

Michael Dower has sadly passed away. Co-founder of the European AgriCultural Convention (EAC), which later became ARC2020, Michael stood staunchly for rural Europe, democracy, inclusion, and taking action now. His retirement marked the beginning of a fruitful career as a European convener, co-founding PREPARE and a number of other networks that punched well above their weight. Hannes Lorenzen remembers a European Englishman and friend. […]

Who’s Afraid of Nature? Restoration Law Under Pressure

November 7, 2022 Ashley Parsons

The Nature Restoration Law, tasked with creating legally binding targets and national plans for the restoration of different ecosystems for every Member State, is facing pushback. A look at how it is being challenged in Ireland and the Netherlands. […]

Rural Japan | Agroecology, Diversification and Digitalisation on Hashimoto Family Farm

November 1, 2022 Matteo Metta

While Japan continues to drive the high-tech smartification of agriculture, what is the role of digitalisation for a diversified, agroecological family farm in a rural part of Hyogo Prefecture? Matteo Metta writes this report from Hashimoto Farm in Ichijimachō […]