10.12.10
PRESS RELEASE
COPA-COGECA RELEASES FINAL EU-27 CEREAL FIGURES FOR 2010/11 AND HIGHLIGHTS NEED TO INCREASE PRODUCTIVITY VIA STRONG CAP
Copa-Cogeca released final EU-27 cereal harvest figures for 2010/11 today, showing a sharp production drop compared to last year. With a grain export ban enforced in Russia due to bad weather conditions, the need to step up productivity through a strong Common Agricultural Policy (CAP), with a strong budget, is crucial.
The situation was debated by Copa-Cogeca Working Group on Cereals. New Chairman of the Working Group, Ian Backhouse, said: “Our final figures show that this years EU cereals harvest reached 277 million tonnes, which is a cut of 12 mt on last years levels, mainly as a result of variable weather conditions (see here for details: http://www.copa-cogeca.eu/img/user/file/CER_GOL_2011.pdf. The bad weather conditions also had a negative impact on cereal quality across the EU.
He continued: “Next year, the sowing area for EU cereals is expected to be stable compared to last year whilst for oilseeds it is forecast to decline. There is also still 1 million ha which are not in production and with an expected low carryover from this marketing year2010/2011, the stability of the next marketing year 2011/2012 will be challenged by the winter weather conditions”.
Copa-Cogeca Secretary-general Pekka Pesonen insisted “This extreme market volatility confirms the need to maintain and improve EU measures to manage the market under the future CAP, in order to increase productivity and ensure food security for our 500 million consumers. Copa-Cogeca is also looking at new measures to deal with market volatility. Furthermore, direct payments to farmers must continue in the future to help farmers suffer the increasing market volatility. Finally, the CAP must have a strong budget behind it in the future, in order to ensure a dynamic and competitive EU agri-food sector”.
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