Beef, pork and dairy prices in Europe plummet; French farmers again take to the streets

French farmers have blocked important tourist and produce distribution roads in a bid to raise awareness of low beef, dairy, and pork prices.
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They are also dumping manure at the entrances to major supermarket chains.
Prices for beef, dairy, and pork in Europe, have been tumbling on the back of export bans to Russia, the cyclical nature of some commodity prices, according to an agricultural and trade-law analyst.
Agra-Europe editorial director, Chris Horseman, said livestock producers in France and across the European Union were facing low prices.
«The biggest problem is the Russian trade embargo, which has been going on for 12 months and shows no sign of ending,» he said.
«That has had a big impact on traditional export patterns, particularly for pork and dairy products.»
But the pork market is also at the bottom of a well-known cycle, adding to the downward pressure on prices.
French farmers are known for their highly-visible and disruptive protests, and this time they are particularly angry at the country’s major supermarket chains.
«It’s been quite noticeable this time around that the French farming organisations have really targeted the supermarkets as being one of the main causes of the problems,» Mr Horseman said.
«They are accusing the supermarkets of cutting too deeply into their margins to protect their own, and this is not an uncommon complaint by farmers pretty much everywhere.»
In the face of protests, the French ministry of agriculture has already promised an aid package to the most seriously affected livestock producers, and applied to the EU for permission to bring forward regular EU subsidy payments.

But the wider discontent among farmers toward supermarkets has also received attention from the government, according to Mr Horseman.

«For the first time I’ve heard of at least, one of the supermarket chains in France, E. Leclerc, has actually been dumped with a EUR$2 million (A$3 million) fine for taking too big a slice from the value chain and paying too low a price to farmers,» he said.
«Under new legislation, which the French government has brought in quite recently, that is now an offence which can be auctioned with fines against supermarkets.»

New export markets

The Russian ban has seen European farmers look beyond the continent for new markets for its produce, and Mr Horseman said it was paying off.
«Europe has been more successful than a lot of people expected,» he said.
«Russia was the number one destination for EU pork, dairy, and beef products until the ban was imposed in August last year.»
Asia, and the Middle East have been important outlets for the EU’s produce, but the sectors are still suffering from the major blow dealt by the trade bans.
Mr Horseman said Eastern European countries have been particularly badly hit by the bans, because they were more reliant than their western neighbours on the Russian market.
 
Source: ABC
 
 

Mirá También

Así lo expresó Domingo Possetto, secretario de la seccional Rafaela, quien además, afirmó que a los productores «habitualmente los ignoran los gobiernos». Además, reconoció la labor de los empresarios de las firmas locales y aseguró que están «esperanzados» con la negociación entre SanCor y Adecoagro.

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