Czech Republic | Preparing The Ground For Agroforestry

Czech Republic | Preparing The Ground For Agroforestry

ByThe Circular Economy Team

Czech farmer Terezie Daňková raises cattle and sheep on a 450 ha. ranch in Southern Bohemia. She rents most of the land she farms. Every year the shape of her farm shifts a little when the tenancy agreements are renewed in a dizzying dance involving over 100 different landowners. 
Agroforestry offers benefits for animal welfare and soil fertility. Terezie is not only a farmer but also a member of the committee that is preparing agroforestry for Czech law. And that is why Louise Kelleher spoke to her about the Kafkaesque barriers to agroforestry in the Czech Republic, the subsidies conundrum, land tenure and the disproportionate number of Czech farmers who work on the farm, compared to non-farming landowners. Often the city-dwelling grandchildren of those who originally worked the land, the present-day landowners have a very different attitude to land use.

EU | Fertilizers, Permanent Grasslands and EFAs – Brussels Briefing

EU | Fertilizers, Permanent Grasslands and EFAs – Brussels Briefing

ByThe Circular Economy Team

From 1st January, a series of changes in the Common Agriculture Policy have been in effect. Agreed on 12th December, the so-called Omnibus was entered into the official EU record on 29th December. These changes are variously described as simplifications or improvements.  However, as we’ve outlined, much of what’s been changed is a step backwards, with changes in Ecological Focus Areas to reduce the ecological dimension in particular being problematic.  A positive in this regressive legislation is, however, the scope given to member states to define permanent grassland differently.  This could well impact positively on upland farming, on High Nature Value farming, or agroforestry; it could reduce scrub fires and make farming more viable in upland areas in general. However momentum would need to develop in member states to encourage this.