TE Lochhead and sons are a traditional dairy producer who in 2001, saw their herd of cattle wiped out by the outbreak of foot and mouth disease in southern Scotland. Rather than simply replace the herd, Gavin Lochhead and his family looked into opportunities to differentiate from other farmers. The farmer...

When water is scarce, irrigation scheduling and irrigation efficiency are especially important. New, innovative ways of obtaining real time feedback on irrigation management are currently being developed including digitally connected fruit measuring tools and online precise irrigation-scheduling algorithms.

The landscape in Sierra de Gredos was modelled largely by the livestock that traditionally grazed in mountain pastures in the summer and descended to the valleys when the snow came. In this video, one of the few goat farmers left in this Natura 2000 site explains their pastoral management and...

The Polyculture Market Garden Study is one of the programs currently running at Balkan Ecology Project and is a multiyear study of a 0.5 acre (2000 m2) market garden growing herbs, vegetables and perennial fruit and nuts in polycultures. The project’s mission is to develop and promote practices that provide...

Small and medium-sized enterprises are a focal point in shaping enterprise policy in the EU. The European Commission considers SMEs and entrepreneurship as key to ensuring economic growth, innovation, job creation and social integration, writes Franc Bogovič.

How smallholders may contribute to food and nutrition security remains a key challenge in many developing countries. Despite being the main rural actors, smallholders are frequently the most food insecure, given an array of biophysical and socioeconomic challenges that were addressed during the workshop. These proceedings discuss the potential role...

A video about the management of open landscapes by extensive livestock farmers in the French Causses-Cévennes

Slovak Minister of Agriculture Gabriela Matečná said that the bioeconomy is a necessity. But Central and Eastern Europe is still lagging behind in its uptake, but the key to the transition may be in the regions.

This report provides a global overview of the food insecurity situation due to different crises and natural disasters, to support the programming of the Pro-resilience Action (PRO-ACT) funding mechanism, a component of the Global Public Goods and Challenges (GPGC) thematic programme of the European Union. The analysis covers the period...

This report surveys the recent literature on producer organizations with a specific focus on factors affecting their establishment and their impact on farmers' market performance and welfare. The report also discusses producer organizations' role in improving farmers’ bargaining power and allowing them to respond to various challenges which result from...

A recent open meeting of the Family Farmers’ Association(FFA), held at Westminster, brought together a core group of individuals, organisations and policymakers to discuss ways to support and protect smaller farms. With the UK rapidly losing its traditional farming culture, groups like the FFA and the Land Workers Alliance (LWA) see protecting smaller...

Report on a project looking at three enterprises involved in short supply chains: Willem & Drees in the Netherlands, Pico Bio in Switerland and Cooperativa Agricoltura Nuova in Italy.

In 2015,  the Blackstairs Farming Group, inspired by the opportunity set out in the  Irish  Rural Development Plan (RDP) for 2014-20, took the lead and looked for help in designing a results-based agro-environment payment scheme (RBAPS) tailored    to their local area. They secured financial support from the Heritage Council and...

Le Cahier de l'ANR "Émergence de l'Agroécologie" revient sur dix ans de projets de recherches financés par l'ANR dans le domaine de l'agriculture et des écosystèmes. Ces projets relevaient des programmes ADD - Agriculture et Développement Durable (2005-2006), SYSTERRA - Écosystèmes, territoires, ressources vivantes et agricultures (2003-2010) et AGROBIOSPHÈRE -...

Documentaries on the Best Practices in Rural Development carried out by young farmers that have been granted support under EU Rural development policies.

More than 55 percent of adults in Europe and Central Asia are overweight or obese. Millions are anaemic, or suffer from iodine, zinc and Vitamin A deficiencies. In children, malnourishment persists at alarming rates in many countries, leading to stunted growth and other problems. An FAO paper published in advance of...

Documentaries on the Best Practices in Rural Development carried out by young farmers that have been granted support under EU Rural development policies.

Agriculture is at the heart of our lives. Much of what we consume and use every day comes originally from a farm, whether it be our milk, bread, meat, vegetables, wine, cut flowers or, indeed, the clothes that we wear. Farmers play a unique role. They produce high-quality, safe agricultural...

“Eating is an agricultural act” as the American novelist, farmer and poet Wendell Berry stated in his 1989 essay ‘On the pleasures of eating’. But what does this actually mean? According to Berry: “Most people think of food as an agricultural product, but they do not think of themselves as...

The Agriculture, forestry and fishery statistics statistical book provides a selection of topical data. Information is presented for the European Union (EU) and its Member States, and is supplemented (when available) with data for EFTA members and for the acceding and candidate countries to the EU. This publication aims to...