CAP and Ireland's record on nitrates
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What is the current state of European farms after this summer’s droughts and wildfires?
Matters Agricultural are getting an airing this week as the Ploughing Championship opens today in Leash. We'll be there tomorrow with the show, so do call in if you're there. And much of the talk will be about the future of the Common Agricultural Policy, sustainable farming and attracting more young people into the industry. All matters close to the heart of my next guest, European Agriculture and Food Commissioner Christoph Hansen. Commissioner, good morning to you. Good morning. Thank you so much for joining us. It has been a pretty horrendous summer for a lot of farmers around Europe. We've had, thanks to climate change, we've obviously had drought in a lot of places. We've had wildfires, particularly in France and Spain, but also here.
Is there anything you're doing as Agriculture Commissioner to help farmers who've been affected by all of that?
Well, indeed, it was a very challenging summer for almost all the farmers all over Europe. You mentioned the droughts, you mentioned the wildfires, the extreme heat waves, because I think we shouldn't forget about the people that are working in agriculture. And when I hear from certain farmers that they had in their greenhouses 48 degrees while they had to go in to save their what could be safe, that is, of course, as well challenging on the human side. So We are indeed, of course, very, very concerned. There are expectations that the production is going in most of the sectors down. So that means as well less income for the farmers. So there is a huge liquidity problem. And there, of course, we already announced before the summer and fertiliser action plan, which could help and kick in now in the next weeks.
How is the EU planning to help farmers with liquidity and emergency support?
Then, of course, we proposed to the ministers as well that they can anticipate payments to the farmers in order to solve these liquidity problems in the short term but of course I believe we need as well to prepare for the future because the climate crisis is a reality and our farmers are the first victims of climate change.
Yes and Ursula von der Leyen, the President of the European Commission will be delivering her State of the Union address tomorrow morning. Do you expect climate adaptation, those issues you're just touching on there, do you expect that to be a big feature in that speech?
Climate adaptation definitely will be on the agenda. I think it's as well about not only adapting, but as well doing risk management. I think that is a very important matter as well. So we need as well to speak about insurances, because a lot of production, less than 20% of the farmland actually has a proper insurance system. So I think we need to prepare for these realities, but as well invest again in new technologies, modern irrigation technologies, but as well invest into water infrastructure, which has somehow been a little bit, I wouldn't say neglected, but wasn't the first priority. In many regions, but I think that we need to step up our efforts, definitely.
Yeah. Is there a kind of a tension here in policy, Commissioner, because on the one hand, the agriculture sector is being urged to reduce emissions. On the other hand, we have food security issues, which would appear to call for more livestock production, which obviously has an effect on the emissions targets.
Of course, I believe that we need to make better use of what we produce, actually. And we have indeed a little bit of an imbalance when we speak, for example, about fertilizers. We are still importing a lot, around 40% of the fertilizers. Fossil-based fertilizers and there is huge potential as well to do better with the organic material there. And there I think livestock comes in and we need to make it happen that from maybe a weakness or negative externality we produce as well more organic fertilizers, have better shipment, make better use of that. and there I think livestock can even be benefiting from it because nowadays you see farmers that need to pay to get rid of their manure while it is in fact it is a resource that they could use and there we need to look again as well not only in the fertilizer industry but as well to the water legislation in order to make better use of this material that we have.
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Chapters
8 chapters
1
What is the current state of European farms after this summer’s droughts and wildfires?
0:00–1:35
2
How is the EU planning to help farmers with liquidity and emergency support?
1:35–4:20
3
Will climate‑adaptation measures like risk‑management and insurance be featured in the EU’s upcoming State of the Union?
4:20–6:14
4
Is Ireland’s derogation from the Nitrates Directive fair to other member states?
6:14–8:16
5
How will methane emissions from cattle be measured and regulated in the new livestock work stream?
8:16–11:19
6
What impact will the proposed 20 % cut to the Common Agricultural Policy budget have on Irish farmer incomes?
11:19–12:58
7
Why does the Commissioner argue that agriculture policy must be future‑focused rather than a relic of the past?
12:58–14:42
8
Will Commissioner Hansen actually try his hand at ploughing during the championship?
14:42–14:55
Speakers
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