Main stories Archives - Page 51 of 119 - Agricultural and Rural Convention

Ireland’s New Organic Action Plan | Committed – to What?

February 21, 2019 Oliver Moore

Like most EU Member States, Ireland periodically develops an action plan for its organic sector. There, a team of stakeholders, drawn from the conventional and organic sectors, as well as representatives of the Irish state’s Department of Agriculture, have developed the Organic Action Plan for Ireland, 2019-2025. Ireland has among the very lowest number of organic farmers, and organic land area, in European organics. So what difference will this plan make? […]

MEPs Mean Business on Live Exports

February 20, 2019 Louise Kelleher

The European Parliament last week called on member states to step up enforcement of existing rules on protecting livestock during transport. MEPs are urging member states to ramp up spot checks, use tracking technology to monitor compliance, and apply tougher penalties for offenders. Transport times should be cut, but the preference is to phase out live exports altogether in favour of local slaughtering. And when animals are transported to non-EU countries, EU standards should be applied. […]

Bhutan | An Economy for Food Sovereignty and Organic Farming

February 18, 2019 Hannes Lorenzen

In the final part of this short series on Bhutan, Hannes Lorenzen teams up with Adrian von Bernstorff to examine how the Bhutanese economy is increasingly geared toward supporting food sovereignty and organic agriculture. […]

CAP | Poland: What Options for Small and Organic Producers?

February 17, 2019 Hans Wetzels

As a major agricultural nation in the east, Poland has a significant interest in how CAP will unfold in the current reform process. We have commissioned journalist Hans Wetzels to get to grips with CAP and Poland. Here we introduce part four, which focuses on smaller producers and how they cope with (or without) CAP supports. […]

Environmental Committee Gives Valentine’s Day Gift to Nature

February 14, 2019 ARC

Today (14th February) a vote was held in the European Parliament in Strasbourg. For the first time, the Environment Committee (ENVI) had some shared powers (‘competencies’) with the Agriculture committee (AGRI). Voting to dedicate E15 billion in cash for biodiversity, while also moving it away from intensive ‘factory’ farms are two of the main takeaways. Its not over yet, however, as more votes will take place. […]

Czech Mate for Roundup?

February 14, 2019 Louise Kelleher

The use of glyphosate has been curtailed in the Czech Republic with a new ban on desiccating crops for human consumption that came into effect on January 1, 2019. Grains and rapeseed are the main food crops affected by the new regulations. But the Ministry of Agriculture has been accused of making a U-turn on a blanket ban on glyphosate previously announced in September 2018. How far will the Czech Republic go in calling time’s up on Roundup? […]

CAP | Poland: small farms, big farms & EU relations

February 10, 2019 Hans Wetzels

As a major agricultural nation in the east, Poland has a significant interest in how CAP will unfold in the current reform process. While not all regions or sectors are the same in this large country, there are some common considerations. Hans Wetzels to get to grips with CAP and Poland, in particular how Polish farmers and Polish policy makers will adapt to likely changes, including a lower overall CAP budget, greater environmental focus and the new delivery model. Part 3. […]

IPES Food Launch a Common Food Policy

February 6, 2019 ARC

A Common Food Policy will help address “climate change, halt biodiversity loss, curb obesity, and make farming viable for the next generation” according to the new IPES Food report. More, including full report to download, in this article. […]

France to Use CAP for Agroecological Transition?

February 6, 2019 ARC

Back in December, the French government published a position paper on the proposed CAP reform. This document included some of the expected, cautious remarks but also took some unexpected turns – for one promoting an agroecological transition. We pick out the key takeaways here. […]

Letter from a Farm | A Stormy Winter in Italy

February 5, 2019 Chiara Garini

Winter and the fierce storms that came with it were a blow for our budding agroforestry farm in Italy. We hear from farmer Chiara Garini about how she dealt with the extreme weather events, how she plans to prepare for more such events in future and how she’s prepping for the year ahead. […]

CAP | Polish Budget Battles in Brussels

February 3, 2019 Hans Wetzels

As a major agricultural nation in the east, Poland has a significant interest in how CAP will unfold in the current reform process. While not all regions or sectors are the same in this large country, there are some common considerations. We have commissioned journalist Hans Wetzels to get to grips with CAP and Poland, Part 2. […]

Letter from a Farm | Growing Relationships in Romania

January 30, 2019 Brindusa Birhala

We are back on Brindusa’s farm in Romania as she reflects on what worked in 2018 and what she will work on in the coming year. Not to be underestimated: the importance of steady, reliable relationships to consumers keen for larger quantities. […]

Organic Outflanked? Conventional, Biological and Regenerative Challenge(r)s

January 28, 2019 Oliver Moore

The rules imposed on conventional agriculture, in some significant cases, make organic and conventional more alike. However organic is also spawning more radical alternatives, alternatives like biological or regenerative farming, which seem to have all the movement momentum, while eschewing certification – throwing out the biodynamic baby with the bureaucratic bathwater? […]

Towards Bhutan’s New Organic Food Movement

January 26, 2019 Hannes Lorenzen

In part 2 of this short series on the Kingdom of Bhutan Hannes Lorenzen talks with Kesang Choedon,who has created an innovative organic and heritage food enterprise near Thimphu, the Bhutanese capital. The enterprise includes processing of nearly 150 different organic food ingredients from a wide range of local products. Kesang is also a leading light in the countrie’s shift to total organic production. […]

France | Land Concentration – a Case For Regulation

January 23, 2019 ARC

All over Europe there is an issue with land concentration. The number of farms in France has halved over 25 years. Official figures underestimate the extent of land concentration in France. So what can be done about this? […]