March 2026 - Agricultural and Rural Convention

Pitchfork Politics – How Closed-Door Talks Around Europe’s Farmer Protests Rewrote the EU’s Green Rules

March 30, 2026 Natasha Foote

Two years after a wave of farmer protests swept across Europe, the political response that dismantled key environmental measures in the EU’s most expensive policy at breakneck speed has left an indelible mark on decision-making in Brussels. In this investigation, we trace the closed-door discussions via exclusive interviews and insights that led to the rapid rewriting of EU farm policy at the height of the so-called farming ‘crisis’ and dig into the moment that broke new ground for EU policymaking. Natasha Foote reports. […]

How to Cultivate Knowledge for Seed Autonomy? Part 1 – Who Teaches the Seeds?

March 27, 2026 Adèle Pautrat

Seeds are rarely seen for what they truly are: the building blocks of agricultural systems that determine how our food is produced. This is no accident. It is the result of industry taking control, progressively turning seeds into just another input in service of a growth model built on privatisation, standardisation, and homogenisation—with seeds at the hub. Reintroducing this concept is crucial in building capacity for agroecological seed systems at regional levels. But how to challenge the dominant approach to seed practices, and bring alternative knowledge to a wider audience? First of a two-part series by Adèle Pautrat. […]

La CUMA : Un lieu de transmission, d’entraide et de partage de moyens agricoles

March 26, 2026 Pauline Petit

Le projet « Rural Resilience » est allé à la découverte de la CUMA (Coopérative d’Utilisation du Matériel Agricole) Plume Chat Huant, un modèle puissant qui répond aux besoins de ses adhérents localement. Ce sont Hervé Mérand et Alice Colin, respectivement responsable et membre de la CUMA, qui nous ont présenté par quels mécanismes des agriculteurs mutualisent des moyens agricoles (matériels, main d’œuvre, ateliers, bâtiments,…). Rédaction : Pauline Petit. […]

France | The Ag Coop that Shares More than Machinery

March 25, 2026 Pauline Petit

What if, instead of going into debt to invest in their farms, farmers came together to pool equipment? What if, instead of struggling to run a small farm alone, there was extra help at hand? What if new entrants could draw on the experience of more established farmers in their local area? It may sound too good to be true, but this is the reality with France’s network of Agricultural Machinery Cooperatives (CUMA). Pauline Petit reports from Plume Chat Huant, a local CUMA cooperative in north-west France. […]

CAP | EU Watchdog Gears Up To Fight For Fairness in Future Farming Policy

March 20, 2026 Natasha Foote

The EU’s watchdog is ready for the fight over fairness in the EU’s future farming policy just as NGOs launch another round of legal scrutiny over the Commission’s conduct in the handling of the next Common Agricultural Policy. […]

Italy | The Fruits of Unseen Labour

March 6, 2026 Lana Chaduneli

What if we acknowledged the labour embedded in every plate of food we eat, in every glass of wine? Forum Synergies trainee Lana Chaduneli spent a rich two weeks in mentorship with pioneering winemaker Charlotte Horton at Castello di Potentino in Tuscany in autumn 2025, where she learned how agriculture, culture and intellectual life need not be separated, but can instead be mutually enriching. By Lana Chaduneli. […]

EU’s Simplification Saga Set to Continue Despite Legal Warnings

March 2, 2026 Natasha Foote

Lawyers have declared it unlawful. The EU’s watchdog has found maladministration. And yet it’s full steam ahead for the EU’s simplification train – or ‘omnibus’, to be more precise. As one simplification chapter closes, another opens. What is going on, and what does this mean going forward? Natasha Foote brings you the latest in the legal wrangle around the EU’s simplification saga. […]