As a major agricultural nation in the east, Poland has a significant interest in how CAP will unfold in the current reform process. While not all regions or sectors are the same in this large country, there are some common considerations. We have commissioned journalist Hans Wetzels to get to grips with CAP and Poland, Part 2. […]
All over Europe there is an issue with land concentration. The number of farms in France has halved over 25 years. Official figures underestimate the extent of land concentration in France. So what can be done about this? […]
In all likelihood, the UK will leave the European Union. In place of the CAP, it has drafted a new Agriculture Bill which is passing through parliament at the moment. What does this bill look like? What are the implications? What further amendments are needed? Vicki Hird talks us through the details. […]
Beets, Beats and Better Bites with tasty treats, DJ tracks and dozens of tractors rumbling through the streets! What it’s the annual Wir Haben Es Satt (#WHES19) mobilization in Berlin. What’s happening – and why? […]
The Kingdom of Bhutan is best known for its high national happiness levels, gorgeous Buddhist monasteries, untouched forests and nature protection areas. Lesser known is that fifteen years ago, the small country in the Himalayan Mountains pledged a shift to total organic food production. ARC2020’s Hannes Lorenzen reports on the innovative entrepreneurs spearheading this transition. […]
What were the most popular stories we published in 2018? While we tend to specialise in CAP and agri-food policy matters in the EU institutions – someone has to, right? – soil, agtech, agroecology, food sovereignty, milk and letters from the farm have proven to be popular. […]
Stuart Meikle takes us back to the future, to the poorly named green revolution aka the origins of industrial farming, to the humus farming of just before that, and up to today with the huge challenges farming faces. Agtechtakeback: Tech Revolutions, Retro-Innovations and Humus Farming. […]
The Czech chicken industry is under the wing of a Godfather. The same man is also milking the domestic dairy sector and has the nation’s encased meats all sewn up. Or at least that was the case until he became Prime Minister. Now, with a confidential European Commission report concluding Andrej Babiš has a conflict of interest between his business and his political position, are his chickens coming home to roost? […]
Swiss farmer Ernst Götsch has developed a variant of agroforestry called syntropic farming. So what is it – what’s different about it – and can it be part of the regenerative agriculture movement? Julia Ruff attended a workshop in Spain with Götsch and tells us about it. […]
Global trade (WTO) rules on competitiveness and a sequence of EU treaties mean that the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) is supposed to be more environmentally sustainable than it was. Now, with increased powers, the European Parliament’s environment committee has an opportunity to show some muscle. But will it flex those pecs? […]
New technological advances in digital agriculture are poised to further transform the business and science of growing crops. But technology comes at a cost, and it is worth considering the impact of farm debt on farmers’ ability to innovate and to transition towards agroecological practices.With Laura Skove in Paris. […]
Welcome indeed to Mazi Farm, a regenerative agroforestry farm run by a team brought together by a common goal – to restore degraded farmland in the Mediterranean. Natasha Foote introduces our next letter from an agroecological farm. […]
Will hi-tech save agriculture from its otherwise intractable problems? Certainly technological stakeholders want it to appear so, as digitisation increases both in the fields and in the policy documents and future plans for the sector. So what is the peer to peer and agroecological response to this? […]
CAP should better support all of those who work the land and produce food, while helping develop agroecological practices. Read extracts from two European Coordination of Via Campesina (ECVC) documents on the Future of CAP. […]
As the role of technology increases in farming and food, and corporate powers use this to extend their power, we need to strive for technological developments that are appropriate for farmers, for eaters and for the planet. Welcome to #AgTechTakeback. […]
Agricultural and Rural Convention