About: Intensive farming Archives

The European Parliament votes today (13 March) on a future agricultural policy that, if approved as proposed, would step back from a generation of liberalisation moves and ease the European Commission’s plan to set new environmental standards for farming. EURACTIV reports from Strasbourg.

INTERVIEW / The more years of education a woman has, the more likely it is that her household will use sustainable farming practices – helping to combat food insecurity, poverty and degradation of ecosystems along the way - new research shows.

A coalition of grape growers, farm groups and major wine-producing countries appear to have won concessions to European Commission proposals for liberalising vine planting rights that are due to expire by 2016.

France plans to shift some agricultural subsidies from crop growers to livestock farmers to narrow a gap in revenue and productivity between the two sectors in the European Union's biggest farming economy.

The European Commission’s proposal for a soil directive has been stalled for more than six years, but Environment Commissioner Janez Poto?nik hopes the newly announced Environment Action Programme (EAP) will eventually revive negotiations on the controversial proposals.

SPECIAL REPORT / Stepped-up farm production to feed a growing world could lead to shortages of a vital crop nutrient, phosphorus, prompting European officials to consider conservation and recycling measures to protect supplies.

SPECIAL REPORT / Some EU national governments and lawmakers are pushing to weaken proposals intended to create natural defences against pesticides and fertilisers in crop fields. But they should reconsider their opposition to buffer strips and other natural areas, green advocates say.

SPECIAL REPORT / East Africa was hit by its worst drought in half a century last year, leaving millions of people in Kenya, Ethiopia and Somalia hungry and triggering an outpouring of emergency aid from the European Union and other major donors.

Environmentalists who have gone to court in a bid to kill a US water pollution trading system say it would be a mistake for Europeans to consider a similar cap-and-trade scheme to reduce fertiliser and other agricultural emissions.

The Common Agricultural Policy, now in its 50th year, is due to get a greener makeover as it enters a new decade. But much hinges on the fate of the EU’s 2014-2020 budget, says Sofoclis Aletraris, the Cypriot agriculture minister whose country holds the rotating EU presidency.

Grape growers are lining up support from EU national governments and the European Parliament to protect limits on vine planting that are due to expire by 2016, a liberalisation move they claim will destroy one of Europe’s premier industries.

With European Union institutions locked in ongoing debates about making the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) more sustainable, researchers say policymakers may be overlooking the importance ponds and wetlands play in making farms more environmentally friendly.

Conservation groups have condemned a move by European agricultural ministers to tone down some of the most controversial environmental proposals in the next phase of the EU's farm support programme.

Pig numbers in the European Union could fall by as much as 10% and the price of pork could rise substantially when tougher animal welfare regulations come into force next year.

Manufacturers have recognised their failure to address concerns over the environmental and health risks of pesticides, promising "a huge change of mindset" in engaging with society while sticking to their traditional argument that their products are safe to use.

After years of trying to persuade consumers that their products present no health or environmental risk, the pesticides industry has now recognised its failure to address wider society concerns. Friedhelm Schmider of industry group ECPA promises "a huge change of mindset" in engaging with consumers and farmers.

Proper crop nutrition and sharing of knowledge and technology between developing and developed countries can help address the food needs of the planet’s growing population, says a top researcher for the Oslo-based fertiliser company Yara.

Farmers in France are winning court cases on illnesses caused by the use of pesticides. Long a taboo subject within the farming community, they are speaking increasingly openly about this potentially lethal pollution, says Claire Le Nestour.

European farmers are likely to fall behind in the competitive world grain market as EU consumer hostility to genetically modified organisms (GMOs) drives away research and prevents cultivation of high-yield and pest-resistant crops.

Germany could cover Lake Constance with the clear film applied each year to seal in freshness on food packaging. But what is good for flavour is not necessarily good for the environment.

Farmers are likely to see the annual payment they receive from the government fall in coming years, UK farming minister Jim Paice said, adding he favoured its eventual abolition as global food prices rise.

Agriculture Commissioner Dacian Ciolo? faced a barrage of criticism yesterday (7 November) over plans to overhaul the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) before a rare gathering of national farm ministers and members of the European Parliament.

As demand for food rises along with the world's population, policymakers are looking at ways of intensifying crop production while reducing the negative impact of farming on the environment.

Across Europe industrial pig farming is encroaching on traditional farming methods and putting small farmers out of business, writes Tracy Worcester, director and producer of the documentary 'Pig Business'. Just as the USA is about to enforce higher animal welfare standards, the EU ought to follow suit, she argues.