Farmers fighting back - 19th February 2024

Starting in Poland, but rapidly spreading to France, Belgium and Germany, farmers are protesting and taking direct action. Agricultural vehicles have blocked motorways, lorries have emptied waste by administrative buildings and protesters have gathered outside the Houses of Parliament.

Much of their anger's due to rising overheads such as animal feed, seeds, energy and transportation. Added to this are the climate crisis pressures, strict environmental regulations and the price competition from overseas producers. Aware of how consumers are struggling, governments themselves are determined that supermarkets offer attractive prices.

One legislative factor is the new European Green Deal, which imposes additional environmentally-friendly measures. In order to continue receiving EU subsidies, farmers will be required to devote four percent of their land to non-agricultural purposes like trees, hedgerows or rewilding. Yet in the face of the current protests, President of the European Commission Ursula Von der Leyen's paused this controversial requirement.

Far right politicians, including Marine Le Pen in France, claim the European Green Deal to be a disaster. They're encouraging a political backlash or 'greenlash' against environmental policies. Analysts say this may influence the coming European elections.

The French government's response has been to announce a further 150 million euros in annual support to its farmers and increase quality checks on food imports.

Despite the UK no longer being part of the EU, farmers in Britain face similar difficulties. They stress that 49 percent of them are at the point of leaving the industry owing to unfair competition from abroad. Meanwhile, supermarkets have sought to maintain low prices as inflation continues to rise, sourcing produce from Morocco and further afield instead of local providers.

With EU elections in June and a UK election by January 2025, politicians are attempting to balance environmental policies and food economics without ignoring the agricultural industry. Their jobs might just depend on it.