<
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2024/nov/02/revealed-the-growing-income-gap-between-europes-biggest-and-smallest-farms>
"The income gap between the biggest and smallest farms in Europe has doubled in
the past 15 years and hit record levels at the same time as the number of small
farms has collapsed, a
Guardian analysis of agricultural income data has
found.
Figures from the European Commission’s Farming Accountancy Data Network (FADN)
and Eurostat suggest farmers across the continent raked in record profits when
the war in Ukraine sent food prices soaring, boosting a long-running trend of
rising average incomes that has outstripped inflation.
But big farms continue to reap the bulk of the rewards, while razor-thin
margins on small farms have put some farmers through financial hell and forced
others out of business.
The analysis comes as a radical new set of proposals to support struggling
farmers and cut pollution has been put forward by a coalition of farmers,
retailers and environmentalists, convened by Ursula von der Leyen, the
president of the European Commission. The shared vision calls for urgent
change, including an overhaul of controversial subsidies.
But it also comes as Europe shifts politically to the right, with some populist
governments attacking environment rules and drawing significant support from
depressed rural regions – where in many cases small farms have closed down or
been bought up, and from which young people are moving to cities, leaving
behind societies that the historian Geert Mak describes as “more traditional,
conservative and anxious”.
The number of farms smaller than 30 hectares (75 acres) fell by a quarter in
the 2010s, figures from Eurostat show.
Thomas Waitz, a Green MEP and farmer from Austria, said the findings “resonate
deeply” with struggling communities. “It’s no surprise that farming families
are increasingly voicing their frustration and protesting against an unfair
competitive environment dominated by big agribusiness.”"
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
