Reshuffle offering crumb of comfort

One crumb of comfort for farmers from Boris Johnson’s cabinet reshuffle was the appointment of George Eustice to replace Theresa Villiers at Defra.

Eustice has a farming background and until last April, when he resigned over Brexit, was a long-time number two at Defra, so while the policies may not change, Eustice brings an understanding of agriculture which has been absent for some time.

Trade deal comment greeted with derision

On Brexit, European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen scoffed at a suggestion from London that if it cannot have a Canada-style trade deal it will settle for one akin to Australia. At the European Parliament the Commission president pointed out acidly that the EU has no trade deal with Australia.

In a comment this week on the UK’s departure from the EU the trade publication Agra Europe described Britain as a “much admired misfit” for almost 50 years as far as the Common Agricultural Policy (Cap) was concerned.

EU in deal with Vietnam

The EU has concluded a trade deal with Vietnam that will eventually see most customs duties and tariffs removed.

Trade commissioner Phil Hogan, described the bilateral deal approved this week by the European Parliament as good news for consumers, businesses and farmers in the EU as prospects for EU food lie mostly in specialist, high-value products.

The deal is a sign of the challenges ahead for the UK. The principles it is based on were agreed in 2015 and it has taken until now to secure the political deal. In an approach the UK will be under pressure to follow, the EU linked the deal to standards covering the environment, human and workers’ rights.

Obstacles to precision agriculture

A study by the European Commission has confirmed scale and cost are the biggest obstacles to a wider uptake of precision agriculture.

The technology involves costly equipment including satellite data, drones and sensors. The study found farmers’ biggest reason for non-adoption was the size of their farm, quickly followed by cost.

The biggest driver to interest in precision farming was identified as other farmers using it.

European organic food market growth

Another report has confirmed continuing growth of the European organic food market.

This grew 8% to 41 billion euro in 2018. Spain was the biggest producer and Germany the biggest market, with France catching up quickly. The Danes were far the biggest spenders per head on organic food.