Latest from EU Member States

France| Keeping The Wolf From The Door

French farmers aren’t against wolves. Large predators have their role to play in the ecosystem. But with wolf poulations on the rise in many regions, livestock farmers are demanding more supports from the state to keep the wolf from the door. Valérie Geslin reports from Salon à la Ferme in the French Alps. […]

Rural Resilience

Salon à la ferme | Les éleveurs entre chien et loup

Dans le cadre du salon à la ferme, ARC 2020 s’est rendu dans l’une des 200 fermes participantes. Ce salon initié par la confédération Paysanne en partenariat avec le réseau des FADEAR permet à chaque citoyen d’échanger sur l’agriculture paysanne avec ceux qui la pratiquent. En Savoie, le GAEC de la Fontaine, geré par Marine HUAUX et Loïc PERRIAUX, a proposé un temps de rencontres autour des thématiques spécifiques à l’agriculture de montagne et notamment la présence du loup. […]

Rural Resilience

Roumanie | Une dichotomie moderne entre biodiversité et élevage

Comment réussir à gagner convenablement sa vie dans le secteur de l’élevage, tout en préservant la richesse de la biodiversité autour de soi ? Si l’on compare l’élevage moderne, au rythme effréné et à la production intensive, avec la transhumance traditionnelle, cette dernière s’apparente un peu à la cuisson lente en cuisine. Et pour cette recette, les savoir-faire locaux, les bergers et les chiens de troupeau sont des ingrédients essentiels. Paul White démontre ici l’intérêt de trouver un juste équilibre. […]

Latest from EU Member States

France | Why Did Le Pen Reap Record Numbers of Rural Votes?

Europe let out a sigh of relief on Sunday night with the announcement of Emmanuel Macron’s victory over far-right candidate Marine Le Pen for the French Presidency. But since her previous bid in 2017, Le Pen’s popularity has increased steadily, especially in rural France. Does her growing appeal point to a rejection of Macron’s techno-solutionism and the failures of his first term? What does it tell us about rural attitudes to Europe? Analysis by Ashley Parsons. […]

Latest from EU Member States

France | Growing Vegetables, Seeding Values – Part 1

Vincent, Julie and their three employees run a small market garden in North-West France. Producing 45 vegetables, the team at La Ferme de Pitoué has learnt over the years the limits of diversification. In their garden, over coffee in the sunshine and a chorus of birdsong, Vincent tells us how they manage to stay true to their values on the farm. Part 1 of a conversation with Valérie Geslin. […]

Rural Resilience

Paroles de paysans | La liberté d’assumer ses choix 1

La ferme de PITOUE se trouve à CAMPBON (44). Vincent, Julie et leurs trois salariés produisent des légumes sur une petite surface. Autour d’un café, dans un jardin où les oiseaux chantent et le soleil nous réchauffe, Vincent explique comment il envisage son activité et comment la question de l’alimentation donne du sens à son travail. Première partie d’une conversation avec Valérie GESLIN. […]

Main stories

Bulgaria’s CAP Strategic Plan: Backsliding on Nature and Biodiversity

The Society for Territorial and Environmental Prosperity (STEP) believes that Bulgaria’s CAP Strategic Plan must be corrected in order to be in line with the objectives of the European Green Deal, the EU’s Biodiversity and Farm to Fork Strategy. In this article, it highlights essential changes to be made, from targets and monitoring to measuring coherence and consistency. […]

Latest from EU Member States

Rural Ireland on the Move – new report on Just Transition and Diversification launched.

This week ARC2020 and partner organisations release a report, and hold two events, on the topics of Just Transition and Diversification in Ireland. Targets to reduce emissions come alongside pressure for agriculture to improve its impact on biodiversity, water and air quality. Meanwhile rising feed, fertilizer and other input costs, and a sequence of recent crises – brexit, covid, and now the tragic war in Ukraine – compound the pressure. So what next for rural Ireland? […]

Latest from EU Member States

Letter From The Farm | A Year In Review

We’re back on Ciasnocha Family Farm, where Mateusz is counting his blessings after a fruitful season of experimenting and investing on the farm. Luckily he found time to travel beyond the farm gate too, to seek and share knowledge, taking part in the UN Food Systems Summit, and COP26, where he championed regenerative agriculture and climate smart farming. Mateusz takes us through a memorable year on and off the farm.  […]

Latest from EU Member States

Changes “required” to Ireland’s CAP Strategic Plan – European Commission

Changes in the CAP strategic Plan submitted by Ireland are “required”. In the Observation Letter sent to Ireland – which you can download below – there are a number of areas the European Commission has called for changes in. The overall green architecture itself, including eco-schemes especially, needs work, if Ireland is to achieve its environmental targets. There is a distinct lack of ambition, scoring, and incentives for stronger environmental practices. Increasing dairy herd numbers is named directly as making the necessary changes more difficult. That the letter’s language is strident in places is noteworthy. So what is the Commission asking for? And what comes next? Oliver Moore reports.   […]

Main stories

UK | Hemp – Overgrowing the Regime part 2

For many growers it’s a plant with huge potential. For many policymakers it’s a dangerous drug. Despite a lack of tools, knowledge, infrastructure and support, woefully few routes to market, and suffocating restrictions on production and use of the crop, meet the British hemp growers who are ploughing ahead. Now a campaign of civil disobedience hopes to provoke policymakers to rethink regulations. Story by Ursula Billington. Second in a two-part series. […]

Main stories

West Balkans – Accession, Agriculture and a Greener Agenda

War in Ukraine has sharpened the EU’s focus on food security, farm and trade policies and the EU Green Deal. This war has also spotlighted progressive engagement with the Western Balkans, a region with its own simmering political tensions not unrelated to the wider conflict. Agricultural ministers meet this week to engage, to connect to EU institutions, but also to help lead on a greener farming agenda for Europe. Hannes Lorenzen, who participated in the meeting, has more. […]

Latest from EU Member States

Hungary | Electoral Win for Orbán – can he keep up pro-farmer façade?

This weekend Hungarians voted Viktor Orbán’s FIDESZ party into a fourth consecutive term in government. What is the secret to Orbán’s continued popularity with rural voters, when he has been breaking promises to them for more than a decade? How will this new parliamentary majority for FIDESZ affect agriculture, farmers and rural areas in the midst of global political and economic turmoil? Analysis by Péter József Bori. […]