It remains unclear how EU-member states with powerful dairy industries will take into account the interests of farming communities outside Europe. While the instruments of which the CAP is comprised focus on the primary production inside the EU, impacts are felt within countries, in Europe and further afield. […]
The detrimental impact of the EU Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) in developing countries has long been scrutinized by activists, political groups and developmental organizations. But professor Alan Matthews warns in this interview the CAP is no longer the main culprit when it comes to smallholder underdevelopment in Africa. […]
Big Dairy’s greenhouse gas emissions are increasing, but the corporations responsible are not being held to account. Meanwhile consolidation in the dairy industry is squeezing smaller operators and hurting rural communities. It’s time to hold agribusiness accountable for its climate footprint, argues Shefali Sharma in a new report from the Institute for Agriculture & Trade Policy. […]
The EU Commission announced today private storage aid for meat and dairy, flexibility for market support programmes in wine, fruits and vegetables, olive oil, apiculture and the EU’s school scheme (milk, fruits and vegetables) and derogation from some EU competition rules in milk, flowers and potatoes. […]
” I could analyze Big Data sets, linking changes in the physical landscape to natural and cultural processes, but how on earth a farmer knows where, when and what to plant remained a mystery. ” And so began an archaeologist’s trip into goat farming… […]
What were the most popular stories we published in 2018? While we tend to specialise in CAP and agri-food policy matters in the EU institutions – someone has to, right? – soil, agtech, agroecology, food sovereignty, milk and letters from the farm have proven to be popular. […]
What are the implications – on the farm, in the region, the EU and globally – of the ever-increasing production milk production in the EU? Stuart Miekle explores. […]
What are the viability and sustainability issues with milk in two parts of Europe quite far from each other – Ireland and Romania? Stuart Miekle has spent many years in both places, working with dairy farmers. Here he gives his perspective. […]
Farms have to be viable economically to survive and indeed thrive. Nevertheless, as the years pass, it’s worth thinking about how the farming life is lived. Stress, workload, debt – how do these impact on wellbeing? […]
European dairy farmers protested in Brussels against the sale of EU intervention milk powder and in favour of the introduction of a permanent crisis instrument. […]
The organic dairy sector in France has significant differences – but also some commonalities – with the conventional dairy sector. Rising consumer demand, producer organisations, and regional feed crop supply are among the differences – as is the decoupling of organic and conventional prices. […]
In his second contribution to this #MilkCrisis debate, Alan Matthews considers contributions thus far and also the recent development of EU-wide voluntary reductions as part of a €500 million package. […]
Silvia Däberitz, managing director with the European Milk Board, gives us their second article in our #MilkCrisis debate. In this she critiques some of the suggestions so far for dealing with the crisis, while emphasising their own position on overproduction. […]
Continuing with our #MilkCrisis debate series, this interview with Aurélie Trouvé, agricultural economist, focuses on the voluntary market control measures announced in March. Trouvé also uses this interview to deal with broader issues of voluntary vs compulsory measures, EU dairy in a global context, and the various solutions on offer. […]
In the third in our milk crisis and farm income debate series, Alan Matthews suggests that supply management is not the way to improve price and income. […]
Agricultural and Rural Convention