Welcome to
Eurofarms
|
Welcome to Eurofarms
|
| Eurofarms - News Archive |
Click Here to go back NEWS UPDATE HUNGARY Ministry of Agriculture has laid off another 1,000 staff, after already making 1,200 redundant in 2005. SPAIN NORWAY A lady won a hill farm in a curious local lottery. The previous owner stipulated in his will that the farm in Hedalen should go to someone between 18 and 35. Thirty people applied, and Monica Aasll, 35, was adjudged the most suitable ....and she admitted she had not even told her husband before entering. FRANCE Montbeliarde cattle show will take place at Besancon in the Jura region between 31 January and 1 February 2006 FRANCE Young Farmer with the approved diplomas will be able to access loans at new reduced rates of 1% and 2.5% in Less Favoured and Normal areas respectively, subject to President Chirac signing the Decree. FRANCE Alsace Region has voted recently to introduce a tax on all trucks over 12 tonnes who do not use the local motorway network. This is being undertaken for an experimental period of 5 years, and the calculations by the road hauliers indicate that it will be six times more expensive to use local roads rather than motorways. The object being to reduce congestion on roads near the motorways. FRANCE ........Limousin cattle have been chosen by CHINA as their preferred breed 24 February 2005 EUROPEAN UNION SHEEP MARKET INFO At the time of writing (February 2005) there are 89 million sheep registered. Since 1989 there has been a steady decline, with France and Italy having the most noticeable drop.....approx 18% each. Prior to the 10 new countries joining in May 2004 the number was at 87 million, with only Hungary as new entrant having more than 1 million head. 83% of the sheep are in five members states, specifically UK, Spain, Greece, France and Italy.......and of those 50% are in the UK and Spain. The is an annual shortfall of +/- 270,000 Tonnes.......much of this is made up by imports from New Zealand principally and Australia. Sheep meat is consumed with more gusto in Southern Europe(8/10kgs per head in certain areas).
MAD COW DISEASE ......First confirmed case of the variant CJD..... similar symptoms and incubation period to other known victims.......3 years.........but the age of 50 is atypical.........the British average of the 148 victims was 27.6 years. Japan has the most strict procedures of all countries testing their cows....this begins at age 12 months and over, and only started in 2000.......14 cows have been found positive during this time. IRELAND Agricultural land prices have increased by15% in 2004.......with an average 11,200 Euros / acre or 27,664 Euros / hectare, with the largest increases in the Dublin, Kildare and Wicklow areas. OECD(Organisation for Economic Development) re-affirms its continued oppostion to subsidies. Insight into the different levels of Agricultural Subsidies paid by their respective Governments during 2000/1 starting with highest receipients SWITZERLAND NORWAY SOUTH KOREA ICELAND JAPAN EUROPEAN UNION OECD countries USA TURKEY SLOVAKIA CZECHOSLAVIA HUNGARY CANADA MEXICO POLAND AUSTRALIA NEW ZEALAND At the World Food Conference held recently, it was calculated 815 million people are short of food and 75% are farmers, particularly in Africa, South America and Asia. This situation is exacerbated by continuing conflicts and low prices paid to producers. Archived news... FRANCE Rabbit producers are facing increased pressure from Italian and Spanish imports. French marketing chiefs are trying to negotiate with the retail sector a seasonal promotion/reduction to stimulate consumption. Asparagus growers are facing stiff competition from Spain. A research establishment in the south of the country is experimenting with the production of a GREEN variety against the normal white. The benefits being two-fold: to reduce Spanish imports, which are sold cheaply, and establish a higher quality product which can be planted more densely per hectare as the lines do not need rowing up-increasing production from 12,000 to 20,000 plants per hectare. Farm Tourism is undertaken on only 18,500 of the 600,000+ registered farms. The Agricultural Minister has said we need to treble the number of farms offering hospitality. Ministry of Agriculture civil servants figures. In 1970 there were 28,000 for 2,800,000 farmers, in 2000 there were 35,000 for 600,000+ farmers. Lavender production(mainly in Provence) has doubled in area from 2,500 to 5,000 hectares and the yield from only 20 tonnes(early 1990s to 70 tonnes per year in 2000. This was at the instigation of the Lavender production bodies, to counteract lower quality/quantity yielding plants- with new seed varieties. The local producers now feel better prepared to face East European imports. Grain Mustard was grown predomindantly until the 1950s in the Dijon area. However Canada has been the main supplier(75,000 tonnes p.a.) to France for many years. The French, after a lot of research, are slowly re- establishing the crop with 1,300ha in 2000/01. 1,000 farmers grew the crop last year. An agreement with the Canadians limits production in the Burgundy area in the medium term to 5,000 ha per annum,(25% of their needs). Cereal harvest this year in France has been judged so far to be satisfactory, but like in other countries there is a downward pressure on prices. In 2001 there was a 30% increase in the number of Suckler and dairy cows ( respectively 42,000 and 46,000) over the previous year. Cheese consumption in the last 10 years has increased by 1kg per person to 16.2 kgs(in 2000). This makes the French WORLD CHAMPIONS!! INSEE (French Statistical Institute) claims in the last 40 years the French now only spend 14% of their disposable income on food against 27% in the 1960s. AOC - Appelation d'Origine Controle - The charter of origin of agricultural products standards was created in 1935, initially for wines. Now 113,300 farms work under this quality of origin system. Very shortly will be added the Corsican Clementine, to protect their growers from increased competition from Spain. Agricultural land increased by an average of 7.3% in 2001 - average price per hectare of 3,980 EUROS(approx £2,600). Simplifying IACS/ARABLE AID PAYMENT CLAIMS - Ten Departements (counties) are this year operating a system of using satellite photos for confirmation of eligible land claims. The areas range from the Ariege in the Pyrenees to the Seine et Marne south east of of Paris. This procedure will be extended to the whole country by 2004. MORE SOCIAL BENEFITS Paternity leave (max 11 days or 18 days for multiple births) meaning replacement labour on the farm) is now available to farmers for all births from 1 January 2002. INSEE Information Agricultural prices in May dropped by 2.3% overall, with the biggest drop of -11.9% for pork and -10.3% for fruits. Machinery Safety deadline of 5 December 2002. Following previous EU/Workplace Directives,and a French Decree dated 2 december 1998) all machinery used on farm (i.e. tractors, trailers, bailers, spreaders etc) must meet minimum safety standards, in an effort to reduce accidents. Basically, it is also the responsibilty of the owner/manager to look at all work practises as well, to improve procedures where necessary. World Ploughing 24 hour broken on 26/27 March 2002 in the Landes area- south of Bordeaux. The record now stands at 251 ha37, previously 209ha. GERMANY For the seventh successive year,Germany has exceeded its Milk quota deliveries (by approx 150,000 tonnes-least since 1996/7). Producers will have to pay fines of between 46 and 64 million Euros. GREECE An official report by the Brussels Veterinary Inspectors criticises the lack of control relative to BSE. BSE Japan has suffered another case (5 months after previous). 24 January 2002 Truffle prices have rocketed, owing to a combination of dry summer and a frosty December. The price per kilo is now between 762-964 euros - an increase of more than 300%. In the Nord Pas de Calais region, 40% of farms disappeared between 1988-2000. In 2001, Young Farmer installations were down again, by 5.7% on the previous year. India appears to be on the verge of exporting wheat to new markets such as the Gulf States, Indonesia, the Phillipines, Myanmor (formerly Burma) and Vietnam. In Japan, there has been an increase in cases of BSE and beef sales are down by 50%. USA - the Agriculture Minister recently announced the doubling of BSE testing rates to 12,500 head of catlle - negligible in the context of a 98 million head. This reflects the assumption of US experts that the likelihood of finding any cases is very unlikely. Finland and Austria have confirmed their first cases of BSE. Poultry imports by the EU increased by 35% during 2001. Brazil and Thailand were the main beneficiaries. 1 March 2001 Young farmer installations are down for the third year in succession. Projected figures for 2000 are 6,300. This downward turn is compounded by the BSE problems and Agenda 2000 subsidy payment reductions. Young farmers to age 40 (aided and non-aided by the State) will now be eligible to five years instead of just three years reduction in MSA (equivalent National Insurance contributions). More Young Farmer news Roquefort cheese producers are being paid an average of 7F01 per liter of milk - an increase of 1.2%, the first for more than ten years. This has occurred mainly due to improved quality controls- Production itself is stable - turnover around £95million. French farmers pay 45.2% of their income in mandatory taxes, this compares to Sweden's 53% and Denmark's 49.3%. At the other end of the scale, in the UK farmers pay 37.6% whilst in Germany 37.1% France's Armagnac producers have been helped by Regional and Central Government to the tune of 30 million Francs (£3 million). This aid was agreed to generally restructure and modernise. There have been problems with slow sales and large stock-piles (11 years instead the normal 8 years), but it is hoped this will be reduced as the economy picks up. Other producers are being encouraged to diversify. French horticulturalists are to be given aid to off-set increases in fuel prices. The maximum amount any paticular farm can receive will be 2,000F (£200). Thailand's poultry industry is second only to Brazil in exporting more quality products to the European Union. Canada has initiated an Identification (tagging) programme for all their 14 million head of cattle since I January 2001. Farmers have until 1 July 2002 to comply fully. Bulgaria is selling all its stockpile of wheat now, in readiness for an early harvest, but the main reason given by some commentators is that the Government has to fight elections in Spring, and for this reason wants the price of wheat to be reduced to the consumer. Specialist cereal farmers in the USA are four times larger than their French counterparts (392ha against 106ha). Taking revenue yields per hectare, the American farmer receives three times less comparatively. This only changes when the American farmer is on a much larger area. No wonder, that the Clinton and now the Bush Administration continue to heavily subsidise their farmers. Iraq - wheat sales by Australia have increased substantially, since Canada failed to condemn the recent US/UK bombings of strategic military sites in the Baghdad area. August 2000 Rural Population of France is on the increase - official Translated and summarised from an article in Ouest-France , 8-9 July 2000 Thanks to the attraction of some twenty large towns, France's rural population is growing. Rural France, which was emptied in the 1960s, is getting its life back, and has recovered to the population level of 1962, thanks to a population explosion in the villages surrounding some twenty large towns with attractive qualities. In a study based on last year's census, a figure of 13.62m - equating to nearly a quarter of the metropolitan population - is given for the number of people living in predominantly rural areas. That is good progress, since there are 247,000 more inhabitants than ten years ago, and 450,000 more than in 1975, the date from which the rural decline began reversing. Until 1968, the flight from the countryside to the towns was not too much of a demographic drain since it was compensated by the marked fecundity of country women. But after 1968 the ageing of the rural population caused it to dive…….until 1975, when the correction began. Since then, the growth of the rural population has been achieved almost solely in the approaches to 17 dynamic urban zones, especially Perpignan, Montpellier, Toulouse, Nîmes, Nantes and Paris. The West and South coasts, Alsace and Rhône-Alpes are equally expanding. In total, the population is growing in 10,100 French communes, amounting to more than seven million inhabitants. But not all the rural spaces are in the same boat. For ten years or more the population has been shrinking in the rural areas surrounding a number of towns that are themselves in decline. This is especially marked around some twenty towns like Aurillac, Limoges, Montlucon, Montceau-les-Mines, Guêret, Moulins and Ussel. The regions affected range from the Ardennes to the Massif Central, taking in la Meuse, Haute-Marne and la Bourgogne. Young Farmers Update Jean Glavany, the French Minister of Agriculture, recently reiterated his intention of encouraging young people to get involved in farming and introduced several new measures designed to assist them, such as:
Young Farmer installations dropped from their 1998 figure of 8179 to 7018 in 1999. The French Government is hoping to reverse this trend by the new measures and to stabilise the figures for the year 2000 at about 8000. CTE - Contrat Territorial d'Exploiter This is a new five-year programme which is intended as a contract between the farming industry and the public to supply traceable quality products which also respect the environment. A CTE contract can benefit farmers by supporting the introduction of improved production methods, create added value, enable diversification, create or maintain employment, reduce pollution and make better use of natural resources. Minister Glavany has expressed the wish that 50,000 agreeements will be concluded by the end of the current year . At the moment, only a few hundred are in place because the paperwork involved is so onerous. Funding is also proving to be a problem, and the situation varies from Departement to Departement, but the new 'Modulation' system (which claws back funds from those receiving more than a certain level of subsidies - 196,787 F) should improve matters for many farmers. General News Items SAFER (the French Government Intervention Agency) activity declined by 9% in 1999 - Agri-land values increased by 12.5% to an average 22, 900 F/hectare. Germany - land prices average 112,780F/hectare, whilst in the Eastern half, prices are at only 21,400 F/hectare, a continuous decline since 1993. European Milk Quotas for the year 1999-2000 The following countries are expected to exceed the quotas: Germany + 160,000 tonnes; Spain + 234,000 tonnes; Italy + 642,000 tonnes - partially offset by a new allocation of 384,000 tonnes. Environmental note: Netherlands 20 April 2000 was the deadline for the buy-back of excess quotas relative to complying with the EU Nitrate Directive. Compensation payments were as follows: piglet 804F; sow 2,203F; bullock 1,456 F; battery hen 26F 1,900 farmers have indicated their wish to either partially or fully retire as a result of the above measures. Bank information Credit Agricole's outgoing President, Yves Barsalon, announced that the bank is to go to the Paris Bourse in 2001 in order to become more competitive. State subsidies and aid - differences since 1950 43% of aid was directed at modernising agriculture in 1950, compared with today's figure of 4%. By comparison, credits given to social protection/maintaining markets has reached 85% of allocated funding now. Another consideration is that since 1979, prices have dropped in francs by 50%, but funding has not kept pace - actually at 20% level. Hurricane damage update Many of those working in the forestry industry are accusing the banks, administrations and SNCF (French Railways) of dragging their feet in the aftermath of the hurricane and not helping to apply measures designed to protect the industry. The huge stockpiles of timber are seen by the banks as having little value at present, in the face of state aid available. In the Limousin, SNCF has been accused of raising freight rates to reclaim the extra 50F/tonne given by the state, and generally the railways are being accused of failing to provide the necessary rolling stock and the like to move timber.
|
Website by DesignOz