“There are no alternatives to green farming, let’s tackle it!”

Because of the drought caused by climate change, Europe was able to bring in a grain harvest that was around a third lower than in the previous year, said Wolfgang Burtscher, Director General of Agriculture in the EU Commission, at the International Green Week on Friday in Berlin. At the public fair with 300,000 expected visitors, the heads of agricultural policy use the stage to present their concerns to a broader public.

The European guidelines for an environmentally and climate-friendly agricultural policy (Green Deal, Farm-to-Fork strategy) have dominated the debate on the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) in recent years. Food security and fair compensation for farmers only came to the fore again after the war in Ukraine. Nevertheless, Burtscher says: “There are no alternatives to green agriculture. Environmental damage is the greatest enemy of agricultural yields. Let’s do it!”

With the new CAP, the EU has already created incentives to reward measures to preserve biodiversity or water protection with higher subsidies. The number of applications for funding is promising that Austria’s farmers accept it well.

Austria is committed to the EU environmental goals, but the profitability of the companies must be taken into account. In order to achieve this, it is necessary to forge alliances in Europe, said Austria’s Minister of Agriculture Norbert Totschnig (ÖVP). “The guiding principle is our eco-social agricultural policy.”

He was pleased that the EU is likely to take up Austria’s protein strategy this year in order to reduce the heavy dependence on Ukrainian soybeans, rapeseed and sunflowers (22 percent of these EU imports) and make Europe more independent. The transformation of agriculture is not only “unilaterally ecological” to see. Farmers in Austria would have to cope with increases in production costs and ever stricter environmental regulations. “In combination with cheap groceries, that doesn’t go together”, said Chamber of Agriculture President Josef Moosbrugger. He warned of one “dangerous development”, for example because real sustainability should not (as the EU is planning) restrict the use of wood for bioenergy, but on the contrary must promote it. One hangs on to nuclear power “green mesh” to, while biomass is restricted.

Caging soon history?

Animal welfare will also become more important in the EU in 2023. In Austria, chickens have not been allowed to be kept in cages for years, but in other EU countries they can. Burtscher announced that the abolition of cage farming could be initiated by law this year. The EU Commission must pursue a corresponding EU citizens’ initiative. Appropriate transition periods must be taken into account.

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