The relationship between, on the one hand, agriculture and food production and, on the other, trade, is full of contradictions. The sector is perceived as being prone to discord and sometimes reluctant to trade agreements that would appear to benefit other industries. Yet, the agri-food industry is one of the main contributors to the European Union’s balance of trade.
The European Commission has recently announced a renewed push to conclude the negotiations of a Free Trade Agreement (FTA) with New Zealand and Australia. The New Zealand case is paradigmatic, but what Farm Europe outlines below can be largely said about the FTA with Australia. New Zealand has no tariffs on imports of most products. […]
The economic impact of the Russian-Ukrainian war continues to cause concern. The livestock sector is bearing the brunt of the general price increase, with energy costs and rising feed and fertiliser costs particularly affecting the sector. World dairy prices have recently fallen. This decline follows high price levels, and is also partly due to disposal problems in […]
The crisis in Ukraine and its geopolitical consequences are leading to an increase in feed prices, production costs, energy and gas costs, which is putting a strain on European livestock farms. States continue to provide emergency aid to support farmers. Spain, which is particularly concerned by the consequences for monogastric farms, has set up several […]
The scientific community has welcomed the results of more than 20 years of research that led to the completion of the sequencing of human genome. The discovery corrects thousands of structural errors in the previous reference genetic material. In the EU, NGOs (notably in Germany and Austria) are keeping the media attention high on the matter […]
In the face of the conflict in Ukraine, the month of March was punctuated by government announcements of new sanctions against Russia, and decisions by businesses and citizens to boycott certain products from Russia. The conflict is nevertheless threatening the production of certain crops, notably barley, for which producers fear a shortage and warn of […]
The crisis in Ukraine is having a major impact on the livestock sector, particularly through the rise in input prices and the shortage of certain feeds. The first consequences are higher production costs on all markets and higher inflation. Thus, not only farmers, but also processors in the sector and consumers are affected by this […]