The agricultural livestock sector is often blamed for all the ills of the planet. However, there is an enormous difference between intensive and extensive livestock farming. Food for Europe visited the Libramont agricultural fair in Belgium to meet farmers who have chosen to farm io a way that respects the environment and animal welfare.

Extensive livestock farming, including agro-forestry, is essential for human development, quality of life and the management rural landscapes. It combines food production with multiple beneficial services, and is crucial for remote areas with few economic alternatives. 

Despite environmental, economic and regulatory challenges, extensive livestock farming offers many often overlooked environmental benefits, such as biodiversity and carbon sequestration. Extensive grazing systems play an important role in fire prevention and ecosystem management.

45. Livestock: a guarantor of biodiversity ?

The Strategic Dialogue on the Future of EU Agriculture has spent the past several months in detailed discussions about the long-term development of food and farming in the EU.

The European Commission president Ursula Von der Leyen launched the Strategic Dialogue in January 2024 under an independent chair, Professor Peter Strohschneider.
 
Its brief was to bring a diverse and sometimes discordant group of stakeholders together to protect and promote farming’s long-term future – while also driving economic, environmental and social sustainability for a sector central to Europe’s identity.

In September 2024, Prof Strohschneider handed the report of the Strategic Dialogue’s consensus-based discussions to President Von der Leyen. The Commission is expected to use the report as a base for the subsequent development of the Common Agricultural Policy in the years ahead.

This 46th episode of Food for Europe includes an interview with Prof Strohschneider, who provides some reflections on a lengthy, intense and detailed process. We also speak to Marco Contiero of Greenpeace, Lennart Nilsson of Cogeca and Dirk Jacobs of Food Drink Europe – all of whom provide insight from their own participation in this unprecedented exercise to make Europe’s food and farming sector fit for a prosperous, competitive and sustainable future.

46. Strategic Dialogue: Towards a common vision of tomorrow’s agriculture in the EU

Networking in agriculture, and in rural areas in general, is hardly talked about and the effects are difficult to measure. Nevertheless, in Europe's rural regions you meet farmers and entrepreneurs again and again who say: "Without networking, I wouldn't be where I am today".

The European Commission’s Directorate-General for Agriculture and Rural Development, DG AGRI, has therefore in 2022 launched the European CAP Network as a forum for the exchange of knowledge and information between national CAP networks, organisations, administrations, researchers, entrepreneurs and users in the fields of agriculture and rural policy.

This 47th episode of 'Food for Europe' begins with an interview with Antonia Gamez Moreno, Head of the Rural Areas and Networks Unit at the European Commission's Directorate-General for Agriculture and Rural Development. Three female entrepreneurs from rural areas report on the importance of networking for the development of their respective activities: Maria Elf, who promotes local production from her region in Sweden, Lidia Moroń-Morawaska, a beekeeper in Poland, and Helena Golden, a basket maker in Ireland.

47. Networking for rural women entrepreneurs

On 1 December 2024 a new European Commission took office, with a five-year mandate to lead the European Union’s executive branch.

Christophe Hansen is the new Commissioner for agriculture and food. He’ll be responsible  for a broad range of policies that shape farming, support rural communities, and help farmers continue producing quality food for Europe and beyond.

With agriculture accounting for roughly a third of the European Union’s budget, it’s a job that brings with it scrutiny and pressure – and demands both an ability to seek common ground and a talent for listening.

Mr Hansen, the nominee of Luxembourg to the new Commission, is a former Member of the European Parliament and is no stranger to farm life. His new job will combine his political experience with a passion for farming, food and rural life that comes from growing up on his family’s farm.

Christophe Hansen sat down with Food for Europe for this 48th episode to share with us more about his background, his vision and the challenges he wants to confront in office.

48. Christophe Hansen: a new agriculture Commissioner takes office.

From 17 to 26 January 2025, stakeholders in agriculture and the food industry as well as representatives of agricultural associations and the European Commission met in Berlin for the annual Grüne Woche (Green Week). Three hundred thousand visitors were expected. As every year, the Food for Europe team was present to moderate a panel discussion. The panel focused on the aftermath of the farmers’ demonstrations that erupted in Europe exactly one year earlier, in January 2024. The protests, based around demands for fair incomes and fair prices, took place not only in Germany but throughout Europe. Our guests gave us their opinions as to whether the European Commission has responded adequately since then to farmers’ concerns. This podcast presents a summary of the live panel debate.

50. How dialogue with farmers leads to a more effective agricultural policy

Du 17 au 26 janvier 2025, tous les acteurs de l'agriculture et de l'industrie alimentaire ainsi que les représentants des associations agricoles et de la Commission européenne se sont réunis à Berlin. 300.000 visiteurs étaient attendus. Comme chaque année, nous, de « Nourriture pour l'Europe », étions présents à la Grüne Woche, la Semaine verte de Berlin, pour animer un débat pour notre podcast.  
 
Il y a exactement un an, en janvier 2024, les agriculteurs manifestaient. Ils réclamaient des prix et des salaires équitables. Les protestations n'ont pas seulement eu lieu en Allemagne, mais dans toute l'Europe. Elles ont été entendues et comprises à Bruxelles, disait-on, mais était-ce vraiment le cas ?  Nous avons tenté de répondre à ces questions avec nos invités. Et dans ce podcast, nous vous présentons les meilleurs moments du débat.

50. Comment le dialogue avec les agriculteurs conduit à une politique agricole plus efficace

Vom 17. bis 26 Januar 2025 treffen sich in Berlin alle Akteure der Landwirtschaft und Lebensmittelindustrie wie auch Vertreter der Landwirtschaftsverbände, und der europäischen Kommission. 300.000 Besucher werden erwartet. Wie jedes Jahr sind wir von „Nahrung für Europa“ auf der Grünen Woche in Berlin, um eine Podiumsdiskussion zu moderieren.  Genau vor einem Jahr demonstrierten Landwirte. Sie verlangten faire Preise und faire Löhne. Die Proteste fanden nicht nur in Deutschland statt, sondern in ganz Europa? Sie wurden in Brüssel gehört und verstanden, hieß es, aber war es denn wirklich so?  Diese Fragen haben wir mit unseren Gästen versucht zu beantworten. Und in diesem Podcast habe wir einige Teile aus unserer Debatte zusammengeschnitten.

50. Wie der Dialog mit den Landwirten zu einer wirksameren Agrarpolitik führt

57 is the average age a European farmer. This figure is all the more alarming, according to specialists in the sector, because it keeps rising. If nothing changes, this means that in 10 years' time, more than half the farmers in the European Union will have retired. Ensuring the next generation of farmers is now a priority, and the raison d'être of the Youth Policy Dialogue launched in December - a series of meetings between the European Commissioner for Agriculture and Food, Christophe Hansen, and representatives of young farmers and rural communities.

The 55th episode of Food for Europe looks back at the issues discussed at the second session of this dialogue, held in Brussels on 7 May, and at the conference on the Vision for European Agriculture and Food held the following day.

You will meet two young women farmers with contrasting views: Justine Poppe, who works on her parents' dairy farm, and Anne Van Leeuwen, an art historian who has turned to regenerative agriculture. Martin Siemen, a shipbuilding engineer and vice-president of the NGO Rural Youth Europe, talks about the importance of opening up the countryside to stem the rural exodus and make life easier for farmers. Finally, Commissioner Hansen takes stock of his discussions with young people on access to land and finance, and suggests possible solutions.

55. Youth dialogue: Facilitating access to agricultural careers

The average age of a farmer in the European Union is almost 60. The task of generational renewal – ensuring younger farmers take up the profession to ensure continuity – is therefore among the most urgent priorities of the Common Agricultural Policy.

It’s not only a question of maintaining food production, important though that is. It’s also about caring for Europe’s unique landscapes and nurturing its rural heritage. Farming is deeply intertwined with Europe’s history, culture and society, and every time a farmer leaves the land, we lose a piece of our identity as Europeans.

For episode 60 of Food for Europe, we have travelled to Ireland to discover more about the challenges and opportunities of generational renewal in a country whose economy depends on high-value, high-quality food products for export. We meet Irish Young Farmer of the Year 2024, Chris Cahill, who has entered into a farm partnership with an older farmer, Tony McCormack.

Tony’s lack of succession options led him to consider a partnership arrangement, and it’s working well – with Tony providing the land and experience, and Chris bringing technical excellence and innovation to the farm’s expanding operations.

We also talk to Patrick Brady from the Land Mobility Service and its work to promote generational renewal through mutually beneficial arrangements that ensure young farmers have the resources they need to move forward. And we meet Ruth Fennell, an adviser with Teagasc, a farm advisory service that is driving new initiatives that deliver solutions to support young farmers and their dreams of making a living from the land.

60. Generational renewal: central to Europe’s farming future

The European Union has 160 million hectares of forests, which corresponds to 40 per cent of its territory. Forests are an economic and ecological wealth that are directly impacted by many threats: global warming, parasites, diseases, storms and of course, fires. It is impossible to ignore the devastating fires that ravage the forests of southern Europe every summer. How are European forests doing today? How can they be protected and repaired?

In the 63rd episode of Food for Europe we take you to Portugal, where Jorge Brito, executive secretary of the Coimbra region, looks back at the measures put in place to regenerate the forest ravaged by deadly fires in 2017 and ensure the protection of the population. Pierre Hermans, forester and founder of the private firm Sylva Nova, explains how he integrates global warming into the solutions he offers to his clients across Europe. Finally, Jérémie Crespin, policy officer at the European Commission's Directorate-General for Agriculture and Rural Development, a specialist in forests, discusses the state of European forests and the role of the Common Agricultural Policy to prevent forest fires.

63. Forest fires in the EU : prevention and restoration

Have you ever wondered how food in Europe is produced or where it comes from? ‘Food for Europe’ brings you stories, analysis, and in-depth interviews on agriculture, rural development, and the developments that are transforming the way we shop, eat and cultivate our precious, scattered farmland. 

Brought to you by the European Commission’s Directorate-General for Agriculture and Rural Development, the podcast will shed light on the most important European policies for food and agriculture and discuss the ambitions to become a greener and more sustainable Europe.
© European Union, 2021

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