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Bayer Beware | Pressure on Pesticides as Green Deal Date Looms

17 May, 2020 Hans Wetzels

This week the European Commission will reveal how it plans to work towards the pesticide reduction targets as set in the Green Deal, via the Farm to Fork strategy and also the Biodiversity strategy. However chemical giant Bayer CropScience has made clear it does not want any binding legislation as part of the new EU Biodiversity Strategy. With specific numbers for reduction in the use of pesticides and fertilizers in the biodiversity strategy in particular, will real targets be dampened down on the 20th May? […]

CAP Transitional Regulation – Running to Stand Still

13 May, 2020 ARC

Some things move fast while others can seemingly be delayed indefinitely. And sometimes, as if by magic, both can happen at one and the same time. So it is with the CAP transitional regulation, where real transformation in agri-food is delayed by a further two years – but the process to do this is itself being fastracked at breakneck speed. The CAP process it seems, is running to stand still. […]

Coping with Covid19 – Disruption, Protectionism and a People’s Agroecology

20 April, 2020 ARC

While it can feel undeniably overwhelming at times, its also important to remain informed and focused on how we can achieve better food, farming and a rural space – even in our new context. Much of the last month has been rightly focused on going back to basics – food, shelter, medicine. If we must go back to basics, and refocus on primary production, so be it. So what does this mean? […]

For the Sake of Nature and the Climate, Europe must not CAP its Ambitions

9 April, 2020 ARC

The European Commission continues to describe the Common Agricultural Policy as “ambitious”, yet its own evaluation of the CAP’s impact reveals that the farm subsidy scheme is inflicting massive damage on Europe’s biodiversity, water resources and nature. In this in-depth feature, Célia Nyssens of the European Environmental Bureau (EEB) explains why the CAP is not fit for purpose and outlines how it can be reformed. […]

Coping with Covid19 – Supply Chains and the Butterfly Effect

8 April, 2020 Igor Tomasz Olech

The Covid-19 pandemic has hit pause on business as usual, and the food industry has been turned upside down. As the Achilles’ heels of the current system are exposed, food sovereignty becomes an urgent question. Igor Tomasz Olech examines the butterfly effect on supply chains and trade routes. […]

Effects of Coronavirus on Agricultural Production – a First Approximation (part 2)

6 April, 2020 Sebastian Lakner

Agricultural production is on track for this year, and the EU is self-sufficient in most areas. Despite the challenges of the coronavirus crisis we have little reason to worry about food supply in the EU. This was Sebastian Lakner’s tentative conclusion in part 1 of his review of the available data. But his findings come with some major caveats. Trade in commodities must continue to flow to guarantee food supply in the context of the EU’s interconnected agribusiness model. Here in part 2 Sebastian Lakner examines another critical factor: labour and seasonal migrant workers. […]

Effects of Coronavirus on Agricultural Production – a First Approximation

5 April, 2020 Sebastian Lakner

As public life shuts down around Europe and health systems buckle under the strain of the Covid-19 pandemic, concerns over food supply are the latest scare to make headlines. In recent weeks speculation is rife as to the potential impacts on agricultural production. In part 1 of this series, Sebastian Lakner crunches the numbers to identify the real risks to Europe’s food supply. […]

Study Shows ‘Frightening’ Decline of Insects and Spiders

10 November, 2019 ARC

Scientists behind a decade-long biodiversity study published, which showed “frightening” declines of insects and spiders in German grasslands and forests, are calling for a “paradigm shift” in land-use policy. […]

CAP reform | State of Play April 2019 (part 2)

30 March, 2019 Sebastian Lakner

In part one of this two part series, we outlined the background to the current CAP reform process thus far. Below, Sebastian Lakner unpacks where the different actors are at now, before a significant vote in the Agriculture Committee on the 2nd April (agenda here) (meeting documents here) […]

CAP Reform: State of the Play in April 2019

29 March, 2019 Sebastian Lakner

Here we present part one of two articles by Sebastian Lakner on the background and current developments in the CAP reform process. […]

Letter From The Farm | What worked from the 1st growing season?

1 October, 2018 Chiara Garini

How was the first growing season for Chiara and her forest mushrooms? What worked and what didn’t work? And how sustainable – in ‘blue economy’ terms – is the whole thing anyway? […]

Drought support in Germany: Are state aids reasonable?

2 September, 2018 Sebastian Lakner

The German summer 2018 will be remembered for one of the hottest and driest. A long lasting high pressure brought high temperature records combined with extremely low rainfalls. Sebastian Lakner explains the state aids for farmers in Germany amounting to 370 Mio. EUR. […]

CAP in Bulgaria Part 2 | BirdLife’s Reform Model – good for farmer’s income and the environment

14 June, 2018 Sebastian Lakner

Magdalene Trapp and Sebastian Lakner simulated the potential effects of a CAP reform more oriented towards environment and biodiversity, in Bulgaria. They tested six scenarios on eight farm types, and analysed the income impact for farmers. So what did they find? […]

CAP in Bulgaria part 1 | coupling a key driver in poor environmental performance

12 June, 2018 Sebastian Lakner

Magdalene Trapp and Sebastian Lakner took an in-depth look into the agricultural sector, the environment and CAP implementation in Bulgaria. Farmers, experts and stakeholders were interviewed in March 2018, to get insights into the specific developments of Bulgarian agriculture. […]

The new German Government’s Agri-Food Plans – Flattering to Deceive?

15 March, 2018 Sebastian Lakner

Sebastian Lakner examines what the new German coalition government has in store for agricultural and rural policy – is it a coherent document, or simply all things to all people? […]