
CAP UK: DEFRA plan for business as usual?
With UK nations having more autonomy than ever before, what is in the DEFRA consultation for England? […]
With UK nations having more autonomy than ever before, what is in the DEFRA consultation for England? […]
Agro-ecological farming methods can help our soils. Special guest post for ARC2020.eu from Louise Payton, Soil Association. […]
Is the government in Greece moving ahead with CAP reform without consulting anyone? […]
ARC2020 was invited to participate in the Action Forum at the 2nd Annual Global Soil Week, “Losing Ground?” […]
Agricultural land in Poland is among the cheapest in Europe, making it very attractive to foreign buyers […]
Dear friends and supporters,Shirin and Oliver here. We’re nicely settled in now into our roles, and really enjoying the challenge of keeping everyone up to date on European farming and food policy issues. The Arc2020 website is, hopefully, a little easier to use and more useful for you. We’ve added big buttons which feature our CAP and Rural Development Toolkit, agricultural campaigns across Europe, and our 2000m² project, as well as a live twitter feed. Why not pop over and have a fresh look? We look forward to hearing what you think. There’s a lot going on in agri-food politics and policy right now. Member States have been having consultations on the CAP reform process, which means they are closer to making important decisions that will effect farming, food and the environment across Europe. We’ll keep updating our toolkit and site as more information comes to hand: seehere for the latest from Spain, here for the latest from Germany, and see also what’s happening in Scotland and Ireland. The whole area of land grab to the east of the Continent has been a very hot topic on ARC2020 in recent […]
Ireland argued hard against flat payments when it held the presidency of the EU. But what else might happen there? […]
Has the Irish state effectively abandoned organic farming? […]
Westminster ignores convergence uplift for Scotland. […]
This week, German agricultural ministers agreed on the distribution of EU agricultural funds – read on for details of how CAP will be implemented […]
The measures already decided for CAP implementation in Spain […]
The European Commission is in the middle of developing a new Organic Regulation. What’s the process, and what does the organic movement think? […]
Largest takeover of a US firm in history consolidates global pork: so what are the details? […]
Is the UK trying to restrain the Financial Conduct Authority and keep food speculation alike and kicking? […]
The UK all-farm average business income is GBP 47000 for the year 2012-13, according to official figures released by DEFRA. However the ministry figure includes an average of GBP 25000 for Single Payment Scheme (SPS) money, which is not directly generated on any farm. So an adjusted headline figure for earnings from farming would be GBP 22000 between those working the farm: less than the average weekly earnings for an employee in a food factory (source: National Office for Statistics). DEFRA attributes the slide to a poor growing season and difficult conditions for cropping and livestock sectors alike. Higher feed costs were blamed for a 50% fall in lowland grazing incomes (average GBP 16500), while their upland counterparts in Less Favoured Areas (LFAs) suffered a 35% drop in earnings (average GBP 19500). DEFRA concedes that both categories of farming activity lost money saying they: “…failed to make a positive return from agriculture…” Yet the ministry insists on blaming the lower exchange rate for reduced CAP receipts, as if these were a direct product of farming. […]
Agricultural and Rural Convention