The move came after Copa-Cogeca cereals working party assessed the situation. Ian Backhouse, Chairman of the Working Party stressed “In Southern Europe, the drought is severe and only 30% of the EU cereals area is likely to be cultivated. We expect the extra-cost to re-sow the crop to reach around 200 million euros. We consequently urge the Commission to introduce measures for farmers to help them get through this difficult period and to maintain the production capacity of the EU, such as through advance payments and facilitating approval of state aid.
He continued “Crops are also suffering from frost kill, causing farmers to plan to re-sow their areas which will increase their costs further. Unfortunately, due to the lack of seeds available, farmers will not be in position to plant what the market needs. The exemption for farmers to use farm saved seed in order to alleviate the lack of commercialized seed will help”.
Copa-Cogeca Secretary-General Pekka Pesonen concluded “After one year of the G20 decision, which aimed to increase transparency on the world commodities market, we are still facing huge uncertainty on world demand which gives no clear market signal to farmers. The situation must be impoved”.
