A new Eurobarometer survey has found that 72 per cent of respondents considered themselves to be uninformed on agricultural issues and over half (54 per cent) had never heard or read about the CAP. The 43 per cent who claim to have at least some degree of awareness comprises of 34 per cent who say ‘they don’t really know exactly what it is’ and just 9 per cent who say they know ‘exactly what it is’.… Read the rest
New market develops in farm subsidies
Given that milk quota has been actively traded in the UK, producing so-called ‘sofa milkers’, it should come as no surprise that Single Farm Payments are now being bought and sold. Agricultural brokers WebbPaton did fifteen deals in one day recently. The market has been described as ‘ferocious’ with rights to subsidies ‘flying off the shelf’. There’s an element of risk, but an investor could receive one-third of the original investment back each year.… Read the rest
So, goodbye then, President Chirac
he announcement that he will be stepping down as French President by Jacques Chirac reminds us that for a long time France has had a head of state and government who has also seen himself as Minister of Agriculture. Two of his last public appearances were at the Paris agricultural show and a European summit in Brussels, the site of his many battles in defence of French farming subsidies. Chirac owns a chateau in the Massif Central which is one of the poorest and most sparsely populated rural areas of France.
The Financial Times commented, ‘His near-umbilical attachment to the country’s farmers throughout his career, which included a spell as agriculture minister, means he can at least count on them to be saddened that the Chirac era is coming to an end.’… Read the rest
Three options for the future of the CAP
The chief economist of the CLA, Allan Buckwell, has been an academic and has worked for the Commission as well as for the landowners’ organisation, so what he has to say on the future of the CAP is worth listening to.… Read the rest
‘Suspended pessimism’ remains Doha mood
Bilateral discussions have continued between the key participants in the Doha Round farm trade talks, most recently in London, but although clarification of the issues and what might be possible continues, there has been little real progress. Key participants in Geneva have described the overall mood as one of ‘suspended pessimism’.… Read the rest
'Suspended pessimism' remains Doha mood
Bilateral discussions have continued between the key participants in the Doha Round farm trade talks, most recently in London, but although clarification of the issues and what might be possible continues, there has been little real progress. Key participants in Geneva have described the overall mood as one of ‘suspended pessimism’.… Read the rest
Biofuels may push up beer prices
I was giving a presentation on the CAP during this week and I was asked if ending it would threaten food security in Europe. My reply was that no one was advocating dismantling the CAP overnight, so any adjustments would be phased in, but that the real challenge to food security came from the rapid expansion of growing crops as biofuels. A structural shift is going on in farm markets. An illustration of this is what is happening to the price of barley which is used for beer, whisky and animal feed. … Read the rest
EU’s share of global milk production falling
The EU’s share of global milk production is falling as a result of the quota system according to Rabobank dairy specialist Mark Voorbegen. Addressing a seminar organized by Dairy UK, he said that the EU had a 27 per cent share of the global market in 2005, down from the 1995 level of 31 per cent. By 2015 it is forecast to fall to 25 per cent (although by then quotas may have been abolished).… Read the rest
EU's share of global milk production falling
The EU’s share of global milk production is falling as a result of the quota system according to Rabobank dairy specialist Mark Voorbegen. Addressing a seminar organized by Dairy UK, he said that the EU had a 27 per cent share of the global market in 2005, down from the 1995 level of 31 per cent. By 2015 it is forecast to fall to 25 per cent (although by then quotas may have been abolished).… Read the rest
Farm trade deal faces many hurdles
Talks on the resumption of the stalled Doha Round took place in the margins of the World Economic Forum at Davos, Switzerland during the past week, but many hurdles remain to be overcome before an acceptable farm trade deal can be sketched out.… Read the rest