Europe's farmers battered by more animal welfare regulations

by NORMAN DUNN

For instance, Renate Künast, Germany's consumer protection minister, started the most intensive phase of welfare introductions with her announcement that Germany was not going to wait for the planned European total ban on conventional laying hen battery cages in 2012, but would make a sudden stop this year by allowing no more new cages, whether conventional or larger welfare types.

Similar sudden changes under welfare lobby pressures are also affecting hog producers. Farmers in Britain and Sweden have so far taken the biggest bashing in this field, with forced introductions at very limited notice for more straw litter, reduced slatted floors, increased natural lighting and loose housing of pregnant sows. Hog producers in Denmark and Germany are having similar treatment introduced perhaps a little more gently.

Of course, there's nothing wrong with considering the welfare of farm animals and there's no doubt that conditions should be reviewed regularly on an international basis. But the frightening aspect of the European welfare revolution is that some changes are being introduced on an individual country basis with little or no consultation with farmers or specialist scientists. Many of these researchers have spent a lifetime studying the natural requirements of livestock and in seeking ways to balance these against hygiene, animal health and realistic economic requirements.

The British and German governments have both assured farmers that the consumers will repay them for the extra costs of producing under more expensive, so-called high-welfare conditions. But, back in the real world, no one seems to have told the consumers about this. The free-range eggs and 50 per cent more expensive pork from hogs raised in straw-based systems are selling, but the customer base involved hasn't grown appreciably for 20 years. Ordinary folks are still counting their Euros and cents and buying cheaper, imported food when the shopping budget becomes tight -- which, with European food prices, usually occurs somewhere in the second week of each month.

Sweden's increased emphasis on laying hen welfare, with larger cages, some of them equipped with perches, dust baths and nesting boxes, means home-produced eggs are 30 per cent dearer. Last year, the market was flooded with cheaper eggs produced from conventional cages in neighbouring Finland.

Britain's tough welfare introductions mean hog production costs are at least five per cent higher than the average in France and the Netherlands last year, at just over $2/kg carcass weight. Most of the extra was due to increased labour and capital costs through the enforced introduction of straw-bedding and loose housing for pregnant sows.

These rulings do not, so far, apply to the Dutch and French producers. Result: British production of pork products dropped by 14 per cent between 1999 and 2000. Pork consumption has stayed roughly level same at around 23 kg/head, but self-sufficiency in this sector has dropped from over 80 per cent four years ago to just 64 per cent now.

A lot of this slack is being taken-up by cheaper pork products from the Netherlands. But hog meat will soon be just as expensive to produce there. Once again, the politicians have stepped-in and this January the agricultural ministry, headed by Laurens-Jan Brinkhorst, announced projects to end piglet castration, reduce animal transport times, enforce loose-housing for pigs and, as usual, bring about a sudden stop to battery egg systems.

At the normal speed of bureaucratic developments, even these dramatic changes might possibly have been acceptable to Dutch farmers. But Brinkhorst wants all this to take place within five years.

Ironically, as so often happens with comparatively sudden changes in government policy, these introductions look like creating a situation exactly the opposite of that desired by politicians and their welfare lobby backers. Discouraged, or just simply broke, many smaller family farmers say they are getting out of the sector, leaving the field wide-open to the big industrialised production organisations; the only ones with the sort of capital reserves that can cushion them against comparatively sudden governmental whims, at least for another year or two! BF
Norman Dunn writes about European agriculture from Germany.

Bad news for Europe's agricultural communications

by NORMAN DUNN

In one way, the European agricultural sector is lucky because it has a fairly efficient system of testing how communication is working -- of showing how consumers, and grass roots farmers too, view European farming, its policies and its products.

But this so-called "Eurobarometer" - the result of regular surveys carried out with thousands of Europeans on behalf of the EU Commission - doesn't always bear good news on communications. For instance, one of the latest surveys indicated that only about 50 per cent of farmers and others knew about plans to increase the EU by inviting countries such as Poland and Hungary to join. These plans have been ongoing for ten years now.

The very same "Eurobarometer" survey had even worse in store for the would-be communicators: only half of the general public had even heard of the CAP, the EU's Common Agricultural Policy responsible for all farming and food production decisions and, in the end, for food quality and prices in the stores.

More shocks were to come. In early summer 2001, the Eurobarometer indicated that 64 per cent of EU inhabitants either did not believe, or were not sure, that the EU could guarantee hygiene and safety of food in the stores. This reaction came from 16,000 people questioned in 15 countries!

Of course the reaction was different from country to country, but the range of feelings about food safety was not varied enough to offer anything other than bad marks for any attempted image-building by the food and farming industry. Consumers in the Netherlands and Ireland were the most positive with 54 per cent and 50 per cent reckoning food could be safely eaten. Down at the bottom of this table came the Swedes with only 23 per cent of respondents happy that the EU can guarantee safe food.

This latest survey also makes it very plain that the European Union and its CAP are seen by much of the general public as a sort of club to help farmers' quality of life. Of those questioned, 77 per cent thought one of the main EU aims was to ensure that farmers had a stable and adequate income. This didn't mean most were against farmers as such. Seven out of 10 people questioned wanted the EU to protect farmers in their dealings with merchants and distributors. More than a quarter actually thought that not enough was being done for the farmers regarding income and protection from the middlemen.

But that was just the average. National reactions differed quite dramatically here. For instance, Germans seem to view farm aid efforts much more positively than others, with 46 per cent saying they thought a good job was being done in farmer income support. In the east of that country, in fact -- where the average crop growing unit is around 700 acres in some regions -- the people saying "well done" to EU farm policy represented 49 per cent of those asked.

Really negative feelings on this question came from further north with 59 per cent of those questioned in Finland reckoning that the European Union's agriculture policy treated farmers "rather badly."

Farming structure in Europe is certainly moving towards fewer and bigger units, but the EU is still dominated by small to medium farm businesses with an average size of 44 acres. Does the Eurobarometer indicate that the EU wants these small farmers to remain in business? The survey comes up with a clear "no" here. Only 28 per cent of those asked felt the EU protected small and medium farms. Once more, Germany heads up the more positive reactions with 45 per cent feeling the smaller farming businesses are well looked-after -- and this is very true from the southern German point of view where retaining the small, often part-time, family farm is still very much a part of local government policy.

Reactions in Scandinavia and France were at the other end of the scale with over half of respondents in France and Sweden, and more than 60 per cent of those in Denmark and Finland, thinking that the small farmer was being let down by EU policies.

With BSE, foot-and-mouth and salmonella scares still potent factors colouring the European view of food production, it's not surprising that there's a lot of negative reaction to agricultural production in general and to some extent the differences in national reactions reflected in Eurobarometers can be explained through location, climate and national attitudes.

These are important. After all, one of the advantageous dynamic aspects of the European Union is the huge variation in conditions and even producer mentality when it comes to food growing and marketing.

But the greatest impact must come from subjects where everyone more or less agrees. And it's surely a very bad sign for European food and farming policies -- and communication -- that the highest degree of consensus is on fears for food safety. BF
Norman Dunn writes about European agriculture from Germany.

Europe's small farmers band together for survival

by NORMAN DUNN

This change in direction from ever-larger farms owned completely by one person or company -- as in Britain, eastern Germany and northern France -- to commune-like groups of owners clubbing together for overall management expertise and reduced operating costs could well be the pattern in regions where the small farm infrastructure has never been broken.

For, despite real efforts to encourage the merging of the smallest farms in Europe, aiming for what the planners describe as "economically viable units" with at least 400 sows, 120 milkers or 500 acres of cropland, there are still wide areas where EU-funded perks like golden handshakes, early retirement, new housing and generous pensions have failed to encourage the hoped-for flood of farm amalgamations and mergings. In western Germany, for instance, average farm size is 35 acres and in Austria 32 acres, not to mention Italy and Greece (17 acres).

The trouble is that in these parts -- and there are many more such areas in Europe - only a certain proportion of farmers will consider selling or renting their land to a neighbour. There's still plenty work off the farm to keep the larder full, and a spot of farmwork in the evening after coming home from the office or factory is a healthy hobby, especially when bolstered by extra cash from EU headquarters in Brussels.

But people like Dr. Lammers want to make the best of both worlds by letting farmers retain their small farms while adopting a new management structure that will make them just as efficient as their big colleagues in Britain's East Anglia or the Pas de Calais in northern France.

He should know what he's talking about. His farm near Hanover in northern Germany, at 430 acres, might be a bit larger than his neighbours, but the pressures to spread costs on purely cropping enterprises like his means that much more has to be done.

No one knows if his vision of farming companies with land-owning shareholders will come to pass. But what is developing in small farm areas is definitely a step in this direction with a very high degree of cooperation between neighbours.

Dr. Lammers reckons this sort of group mentality started back when sugar beet factories were first built in the area about a century ago and has been built on much more recently. He and 24 of his neighbours still team up for the sugar beet harvest and, between them, own a six-row, self-propelled harvester. Another group, this time with 40 farmers, organize round-the-clock shifts with tractors and trailers to transport the beet from roadside storage piles into the factory.

But there's also a group of 250 farmers in the area for grain growing. A crop consultant has been hired. He walks the crops and runs trial plots for new varieties of wheat and barley and pesticide treatments on members' farms. Dr. Lammers and 14 of his neighbours also pool their storage and transport resources for a grain marketing co-op -- sometimes driving their quality wheat to harbours for export. The grain-marketing group also serves as bulk-buyer of members' inputs, such as fertiliser, spray and diesel.

There's also a group of 100 local small farmers with potato growing interests. This was started 15 years ago, and almost right away it landed a contract supplying local McDonald's restaurants with Russet Burbank. The group has a 40,000-tonne, controlled-climate store complete with full time potato manager who also advises the farmers on low-damage harvesting techniques and chemicals for the crop.

Group costs? Just using one example, the grain advisory group costs a farmer $115 Cdn a year in subscription plus $2.50 an acre. And sharing harvesters for the beet and potato crops saves him $155 an acre in machinery costs alone.

Will these sorts of savings help Europe's small farmers to survive? Many have agreed that even if farm incomes get worse, they won't be selling their family's land to strangers. But a growing number have reconciled themselves to losing at least some of their earlier independence as they group-up for survival. BF
Norman Dunn writes about European agriculture from Germany.

Government credit helps Poland's small farms to expand

by NORMAN DUNN

Some of the big state and cooperative farms, measured in thousands of acres, still exist in countries like Poland and Hungary. But 10 years of private economy with little or no government support have left most in a ruinous state.

From the viewpoint of small-scale EU farming businesses in countries such as Austria (average farm size 32 acres) or Italy (17 acres), this disintegration means more chance of survival for the small farm in a free market. But there are still small farms in the east as well. Will the future EU farm budgets be big enough to support the development that the newcomers want? No one is sure. But even now, the agricultural sector in these countries is full of farmers hard at work reorganizing their businesses to take full advantage of the opportunities they think an enlarged Europe will bring.

This summer, I visited farmers in the fertile Wisla valley in north central Poland. These hard-working people were clear what they wanted from EU membership: better prices, greater support and more opportunities to expand. It was equally plain to see that their government was out to help those that want to expand and upgrade their enterprises.

Available statistics indicate that 18 per cent out of Poland's population of 38 million work on the land, but Polish farming produces only 3.8 per cent of gross national product. Average farm size is 19 acres.

But that was yesterday. This picture of almost subsistence farming is changing very rapidly and some of the small farms I saw are expanding every year. Maria and Tadeusz Fusiara-Dziemiony, for instance, have built their farm up to 106 acres of cropland since buying 40 acres from Maria's father six years ago. Land was bought field by field as it became available in the neighbourhood. Average price so far: $1,115 Cdn per acre.

A government credit scheme helps young farmers (up to 40 years of age) to buy land through guaranteeing cheap interest on borrowings. Current public bank interest rates are around 28 per cent in Poland. With a long-term farm business plan approved by both bank and government, this can be reduced 10-12 per cent. The Dziemiony business also has a small 200 hogs/year feeding unit. The couple is well aware that this must be expanded to be competitive in the EU, and also to offer support in years when their arable enterprises don't pay so well. Plans have already been approved for new buildings to house a sow herd and more fatteners, and similar low-interest loans are being applied for.

Crops on this farm are winter wheat (average yield 2.5 t/ac), summer wheat (2.1 t/ac), summer barley (1.7 t/ac) and sugar beet (21 t/ac). Last year, their bread-quality wheat sold for a few cents below $246/t and the beet levelled out at $48/t at 18 per cent sugar content.

Wheat is supported by a guaranteed price, but only for milling-quality grain. This year, the guarantee was $218/t delivered to the mill. The Polish government also encourages farmers to plan their marketing through a storage bonus. Delivery one month after harvest brings a bonus of $38/t and wheat marketed four months after harvest some $44/t.

"But our farms are very small compared with our future French and British competitors," says this farmer. "This is why we need more support and better guaranteed prices for combining crops."

Will they get it? Piotr Czajkowski is not at all sure and that's why he's put his money on vegetables as the way ahead within the EU. He left his father's few acres to become an aeroplane crop sprayer before buying 600 acres of sandy-loam land from a derelict co-operative farm.

At purchase in 1995, the price was $685 an acre including buildings and some machinery. This year, Piotr has 270 acres of onions, potatoes, leeks, vining peas, carrots, chicory and parsley plus some minor herbs growing. The rest of the land is down to oilseed rape and wheat. But these are only break-even crops for this farmer. Investment so far, again aided by the Polish young farmer interest support scheme, includes a renovated irrigation water reservoir and pipeline system for 148 acres.

Piotr says his policy is to save on buildings -- all of which are more than 40 years old -- and invest in the best available equipment. He's still got some old Russian tractors which work well, he claims. But the ageing wooden barns now also house modern cultivation and harvesting machinery from Britain, Denmark, Italy and the Czech Republic.

Piotr claims his vegetable prices are "at least at western European levels" -- helped by having a freezing company in the neighbourhood and nearby processors who contract-buy his potatoes. Last year, his carrots averaged 32t/ac and onions 24t/ac. Oilseed rape came off the combine at 1.4t/ac.

"Field vegetables mean I need a large labour force -- eight people year-round and another 30 casuals in the season," says Piotr. "But with the vegetable yield potential here, it would be economically silly -- and also very boring -- just to grow wheat." BF
Norman Dunn writes about European agriculture from Germany.