David Crespo, a farmer from Portugal, believes that permanent pasture is an “outstanding resource” which can significantly improve animal production. But the usual grasses grown require high nitrogen inputs and lack protein for the animals. He has developed a system of integrating legumes in the pasture which means he has...

The laying hen sector has had to face many challenges in the past decade, including disease outbreaks and concerns over animal welfare. In cooperation with Wageningen University and other partners, Rondeel company (The Netherlands) thought up a new housing system for laying hens which would be able to provide solutions...

Bringing farmers and consumers closer together, short supply chains can take many forms. All over Europe, the term covers a range of direct selling, from selling on the farm, at farmers’ markets, or via the internet. Often characterised by personal contact between the producer and the customer, they also offer...

More than 70 per cent of Scotland’s land area consists of hills and mountains or has vegetation with upland characteristics. Our mountains, moors, hills and heaths extend from near sea level in the north and west to the highest mountain tops across Scotland. So don’t just imagine the jagged peaks of...

More than 70 per cent of Scotland’s land area consists of hills and mountains or has vegetation with upland characteristics. Our mountains, moors, hills and heaths extend from near sea level in the north and west to the highest mountain tops across Scotland. Farming in the uplands varies markedly from place...

The recently launched EIP-AGRI Focus Group ‘New entrants into farming’ is looking into which patterns characterise new entrants in farming and what can be learnt from them to foster innovation and entrepreneurship in agriculture. Agnès Papone, one of the Focus Group experts and a recent convert to the farming profession,...

Speaking in front of over 400 stakeholders from the agricultural sector, Commissioner Hogan today presented his vision for agriculture in the European Union and the future of the Common Agricultural Policy.

Addressing agricultural export competition has been a longstanding demand from many countries, notably developing and least-developed countries. Advancing on this issue would make the multilateral trading system fairer, it would support farmers world-wide, and it would create a more level playing field for trade across the globe.

The Guidelines aim to support European farmers by clarifying how they can, under certain conditions, cooperate to jointly sell olive oil, beef and veal, and arable crops without breaching EU competition rules. These markets are worth more than €80 billion annually. The European Commission has adopted new Guidelines on how specific...

The European organic movement stimulates and rewards the further development of organic systems, improving the resilience and environmental performance of organic production systems, while innovative tools for upholding the integrity of the supply chain promote trust. Policy makers and citizens widely recognize and value the contribution of organic farming to...

The Rural Development Programme (RDP) for Cyprus was formally adopted by the European Commission on 3 December 2015, outlining the priorities of the Republic of Cyprus for using the €243.3 million of public money that is available for the 7-year period 2014-2020 (€132.2 million from the EU budget and €...

This report presents the case of demonstration farms that operate within a cooperation network. The purpose of the study was to present the advisory opportunities in the process of linking education and the needs of farmers, with regard to innovative knowledge. In this process the advisory role was shown through...

In September 2015, not only agri-food exports but also imports to the EU went up compared to the previous month (EUR +388 million; +4.5%). In particular, values of oilseeds other than soybeans, coffee and tea, and cocoa beans were at a higher level in September compared to August 2015. EU...

The recent USDA ERS International Food Security Assessment (IFSA, 2015) reports sharp declines (roughly 40 %) in food-insecure people in Asia and Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) during the last 20 years. Success was driven by rising per capita grain output in both regions and rapid import growth in...

Since the mid-2000s agricultural and food prices moved to a higher level and in parallel with prices of other commodities – and at times have also been very volatile. These events led to concerns which, in different ways, brought to the forefront a debate about food security. Both developed and...

There is a wide consensus among scholars and policy makers that knowledge is a key resource to support European agriculture in meeting new challenges such as e.g. international competition, food safety, health or environmental issues. Organisations delivering farm advice are targeted by different EU policies, such as the “Farm Advisory...

Farms are the basic organisational unit for agricultural production. How many farms are there in the EU and how has their number changed in recent years? Are they becoming bigger and more specialised? And what about the farmers who take production decisions and receive CAP payments – what do we...

Young farmers are now at the heart of Europe’s common agricultural policy. This is one of the greatest achievements of the reform which was adopted in 2013. The European Union has put in place a strong tool — a modern and forward-looking agricultural policy — which will apply all across...

The total organic area in the EU-28 (i.e. the area fully converted to organic production and area under conversion) was 10.3 million hectares (ha) in 2014 and continues to show an upward trend. The increase in area between 2013 and 2014 was 2.3 %, compared with +0.2 % between 2012...

Bringing farmers and consumers closer together, short supply chains can take many forms. All over Europe, the term covers a range of direct selling, from selling on the farm, at farmers’ markets, or via the internet. Often characterised by personal contact between the producer and the customer, they also offer...