Farming – English Blogactiv Posts

Archives for Farming

WHY FRANCE FAVOURS SCRAPPING FARM SUBSIDIES

April 16, 2010

To those unfamiliar with the arcane workings of the CAP it may seem strange that the French government supports its farm organisations in favouring the reduction of guaranteed income subsidies – even as a quid pro quo for greater market support and protection. Surely a substantial dab in the hand for doing nothing is worth… » read more

Agricultural reform, agricultural subsidies, Agriculture, Agriculture & Food, CAP, Common Agricultural Policy, English, Farming

FARM MINISTERS DETERMINED TO TAMPER WITH MARKET REGULATIONS

April 7, 2010

A majority of the European Union’s agriculture ministers is clearly determined on modification of the Union’s basic market legislation in what is likely to be a vain attempt to bolster farm incomes. This is the major conclusion to be drawn from a paper from the Spanish Presidency issued in the wake of last week’s farm… » read more

Agriculture, Agriculture & Food, Common Agricultural Policy, English, Farming

Former Commissioner Franz Fischler: balancing food and environmental sustainability

April 17, 2009

In our last interview from the Future of Agriculture series, we have to Franz Fischler, former European Commissioner for Agriculture, Rural Development and Fisheries, and now Chairman of the Rise Foundation, an organisation that supports rural development. The main focus of his position on the future development of the European agricultural sector is on the… » read more

CAP Reform, English, Events, Farming

The bee season returns and experts continue to search the cause of Colony Collapse Disorder

February 20, 2009

Bees are a fundamental part of sustainable agriculture. Bees and other pollinating insects are responsible for the pollination of more than 80% of crops in Europe. So it’s been extremely worrying to see a mass decline in them over the past years. It’s got to such a critical point that this year the EU […]… » read more

English, Farming, Food and Health

EU fund new software to standardise risk assessment of pesticide pollution

February 17, 2009

The Environmental Expert.com published an article recently about the development of a tool to help standardise risk assessment procedures for pesticides across Europe. The software combines climate, soil and crops data specific to each location to help understand the potential impact of each pesticide used. The objective of the FOOTPRINT project is to develop a… » read more

BioTech, English, environment, Farming, pesticides

Pressure mounts for EU-wide impact assessment

December 11, 2008

When I attended the Agriculture and Rural Development Committee of the European Parliament with colleagues on Monday to give evidence the question of an EU-wide impact assessment of the 91/414 revisions was again raised. The Commission response was that they had undertaken an impact assessment in 2006. However, this impact assessment is […] Original post… » read more

environment, European Regulation, Events, Farming, Food and Health

A view from Copa-Gogeca: the association of European farmers

November 18, 2008

Last week, we visited Pekka Pesonen, Secretary-General of Copa-Cogeca, the European association for farmers and farmers’ co-operatives, operating in Brussels. In the first video, you’ll hear Pekka speaking about farmers’ views of the revision of the pesticides regulation, the difficulty in ensuring that imports have been subjected to the same conditions as products from within… » read more

European Regulation, Farming

A conversation with a Spanish agronomist

October 27, 2008

Following our visit to the Efyasa farm in Spain, we spoke to chief agronomist José Luis Ripolles. He mentioned the quality issue arising from attacks by the California Red Scale pest; the limited use of pesticides in citrus fruit farming in Spain; and the fact that the five year exemption on irreplaceable pesticides being touted… » read more

environment, European Regulation, Events, Farming

Spanish orange farmers talk pesticides

October 26, 2008

We attended an event in Isla Cristina in southern Spain earlier this month at the Efyasa orange farm, which operates on the principle of Integrated Pest Management, an approach that uses a complimentary array of methods to control pests in an attempt to reduce reliance on pesticides. In this debate, focus has tended to be… » read more

environment, European Regulation, Events, Farming, Food and Health

Assessing the work of the Pesticide Safety Directorate

October 22, 2008

When Farmers Weekly presented their Save our Sprays petition to German Green MEP Hiltrud Breyer, the response they received was interesting to say the least. It will be recalled that the UK regulatory agency, the Pesticides Safety Directorate (PSD), has estimated that the cut-off criteria agreed by EU farm ministers in their ‘common position’ […]… » read more

environment, European Regulation, Farming

You couldn’t make it up

environment, European Regulation, Farming

The derogation issue

October 15, 2008

Those who claim that reports like that by the UK Pesticides Safety Directorate (PSD) exaggerate the likely impact of proposed changes to EU pesticides legislation often point to the existence of a derogation in the Council’s common position. This would allow the continued use for up to five years of pesticides that would otherwise be… » read more

environment, European Regulation, Farming

Summary of ongoing European pesticide reform

October 6, 2008

Want to get up to speed on the reform of pesticide legislation in Europe? Read EurActiv’s Pesticides: Striking the right balance? to see who’s saying what and why, plus links to further resources. Original post by helendunnett

European Regulation, Farming, Food and Health, future of europe, NGOs

A farmer’s view on the proposed pesticides legislation

July 4, 2008

Earlier this week, we attended a farm visit at JSR Farms in East Yorkshire, United Kingdom (disclosure: the event was organised by ECPA). The event was an “information day” for the press, aimed at providing a farmer’s opinion on the effects the proposed revision of the current pesticide legislation (Directive 91/414) will have on his… » read more

environment, European Regulation, Farming, NGOs

Global increase in food prices

April 9, 2008

There are so many articles online highlighting the global increase in the cost of basic foods such as grain, corn, rice and the knock on effect this is having on the cost of beef. People fighting to get limited stocks of bread in Egypt, parents unable to feed their families in Asia due to staples… » read more

Farming, Food and Health, Global issues

1st Forum for the Future of Agriculture

March 31, 2008

European Landowners (ELO) joined forces with Syngenta last week (27 March) to host a forum on the future of European agriculture. With a great programme, not surprisingly the event was well attended by a diverse group of stakeholders. I was there too and for the first time with a video camera, trying to capture various… » read more

Events, Farming, future of europe