Pressure from the pesticide lobby and big-ag has successfully delayed the SUR, a regulation essential to reaching Farm to Fork pesticide reduction targets across the EU. On December 19th, at a meeting of the EU Energy Council, the formal request for an additional impact assessment was passed without any Member State blocking it. So what’s next? […]
As Ministers meet in Montreal to pontificate about biodiversity, back home in Europe they are working hard to keep nature-destroying pesticides flowing. The EU’s attempt at updating the pesticide regulation – the SUR – may be delayed by 6 months if Ministers get their way, making final passage more difficult. Scientists and civil society are now focused on the Council Meeting 19th December when the next delay of SUR may be copper-fastened. Ashley Parsons and Oliver Moore report. […]
As the last CAP Strategic Plan (Netherlands) has been approved, we launch a report summarising the key aspects of the CAP Strategic Plans approval process that started a year ago. This report is a collection of the work produced throughout the year, a look back on 2022, and what to look for in 2023. […]
Saturday Dec 10th will be a decisive day for the SUR pesticide legislation reform. A formal request for another impact assessment will be blocked or adopted further delaying the important legislation. Ashley Parsons reports. […]
What are the pressures on the agri-food system, what role does CAP and wider EU agri-food policy play, and how could things be different? Here, Spanish organisations outline their problems and solutions. Topics covered include many agri-food system imbalances such as fossil fuels, nutrition, ultra-processing/malnutrition, water, soil, waste, a lack of food sovereignty and spurious war prioritisations. The need for rebalancing and the potential of agroecology are proposed for a more sustainable agriculture. […]
Fabienne and Sébastien opened the farm gates a long time ago. In fact, they make a point of visiting other farms, in order to respect different approaches. Finding solutions in cooperative approaches, they helped set up an abattoir co-op with other poultry farmers as a direct, bottom-up response to increasingly complex issues of animal welfare and biosecurity. Part two of a conversation with Valérie Geslin. […]
Pour Fabienne et Sébastien, le décloisonnement est une histoire qui remontent à il y a 10 ans, avec une association culturelle : Le Barouf dans la Taupinière. Une perspective ouverte envers les pratiques agricoles de l’autrui leur permet de respecter les différences. Installés sur un territoire dynamique, sur leur ferme Le Fournil de La Barre (44), ces paysans boulangers font les ventes directes et ont 3 AMAP. Fort d’approches coopératives, le couple mise sur l’abattage en commun pour fait face aux enjeux, de plus en plus compliqués, autour du bien-être animal et de la biosécurité. Deuxième partie de leur conversation avec Valérie GESLIN. […]
ARC is now looking for a project coordinator to animate the Rural Resilience project (“Nos Campagnes en Résilience”) for the period 2023-2024. The project will be concentrated in France and at least one additional EU country. Apply by 15 January 2023! […]
After last week’s clear challenge to the SUR pesticide reform, this week the guns are blazing between MEPs and Commissioners pushing the reform. And in a familiar pattern in EU law-making, many Ministers are backing the business-as-usual block. Will we be reporting on the SUR until there are no more puns to be made? It seems that’s just what many politicians, with thier persistent pesticide proposals, want to enSURe. Ashley Parsons and Oliver Moore report. […]
While much has been said about the impact of the war in Ukraine on global food markets, little is known about what is happening in Ukraine and how different food producers are coping with the hazards of the war. Natalia Mamonova discusses the impact of the war on Ukraine’s bimodal agrarian structure and what it could mean for small-scale farmers in Ukraine. […]
What role for legumes in the agroecological transition? And what is bulatura? Here, author and researcher Lucia Nicastro interviews two farmers – Stefano Vegetabile of Nuove Rotte. Andrea Giaccardi, of l’Orto del Pian Bosco – about how and why they integrate legumes into their farming systems. […]
The SUR pesticide regulation reform is facing pushback. Political moves by member states, such as requesting a new impact analysis of the Regulation, will set the reform back by months. Ashley Parsons reports. […]
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. […]
En allant à la rencontre des acteurs ruraux en France, « Nos campagnes en résilience » a fait le tour des enjeux qui les préoccupent. Bien au-delà de l’aspect matériel et la transmission de leur ferme, les paysans ont à cœur le partage de toutes leurs connaissances, le savoir-faire, l’expertise de terrain qui permet la réussite de leur projet. Car, Paysan est un métier qui se vit. Deuxième partie de l’analyse thématique. Rédaction : l’équipe « Nos campagnes en résilience ». […]
Despite record profits, the fertilizer industry has had its needs prioritised in the European Commission’s Fertilizer Communication, announced last week. Measures to prevent import-dumping of fertilizer were not lifted, in a move to protect the fertilizer industry within the EU’s borders. Oliver Moore and Ashley Parsons have more. […]
Agricultural and Rural Convention