They are the experts be able to agree on technical guidelines or will this Technology Create deadly new autonomous weapon systems. Robot collapse starts aug 14th on t. W. European agriculture has been an environmental disaster in many parts of the continent its ruined the landscape of climate and biodiversity but the e. U. Continues to pour money into a system thats obviously broken. We should be funding organic farming not the over exploitation of nature. The e. U. Appears to have no interest in environmentally friendly Farm Policies is that due
to the influence of powerful interest groups. And we feel calling me a lobbyist is a mean spirited allegation that. The e. U. Is now negotiating a new multiyear budget will it include Farm Policies that do more to protect the environment. And. Farm fields as far as the eye can see this land all 2600 hectares of it belongs to one of germanys largest Farming Businesses agro berdych. Weve come here to talk to the companys Managing Director or bunya to each. Its a successful enterprise optimized for efficiency and production but units doesnt seem to be truly happy in his work. This from the land but its not farming in the
traditional sense we use the latest technology and our productivity is extremely high but theres always pressure to do more. Better govern produces 10000. 00 tons of potatoes a year for a company and braman that makes french fries they grow only one kind of potato here and they have to be as large as possible. Like most farms burdock only uses fertilizers and pesticides to keep yields by they also receive 700000. 00 euros a year in e. U. Subsidies that helps to keep them competitive in world markets. Let alone from that 65 percent of the potatoes end up as finished Food Products but were also competing with Frozen French Fries from the u. S. It really is a Global Markets in Global Markets. The e. U. Actually promotes the development of these agro giants because the amount of the
subsidy is determined by the size of the Farm Environmental concerns are often ignored. Thats not the case with this small family owned farm located near munich they follow the principles put forward by the by a Land Organization which promotes Organic Agriculture practices the farm grows 20 different kinds of potatoes and they dont use artificial fertilisers or chemical pesticides. You hope this you may be moved by Learned Traditional Farming Methods then when ive driven my spraying vehicle through the fields for the 10th time i know that ive made the right choice. Of you admit this but its that thing was initially called does it seem i want to avoid using chemical pesticides and thats what got me excited about this kind of farming. Its got some. Countries hot zones. Gets a 55000 Euro Annual Subsidy from the e. U. And another 50000 from the state of bavaria because he uses organic Farming Methods. Still invests the funds in his farm polls indicate that most germans approve of this kind of agriculture because it helps to preserve the Landscape Soil and climate. There are only 2 viable Business Models in e. U. Funded agriculture huge conventional farms like bird a clean and organic farms like hot silt. The Common Agricultural policy dates back to 1957 its original goals included increasing productivity and providing a stable income for farmers today the e. U. Provides massive subsidies to help Agricultural Products compete effectively in world markets. About 38 percent of the entire budget 58000000000. 00 euros per year is spent on financial
support for farmers. 6300000000. 00 euros of that total goes to germany. Most of that money 5000000000 euros goes directly to farmers based on how much land they own. 1300000000. 00 is spent on Financial Support for rural areas only a small amount goes to promote the development of environmentally friendly Farming Methods. The egos Agricultural Policy rewards big farms like burdock owned which is run by or bond unit which most farms dont turn a profit today one half of europes total farmland is owned by just under 3 percent of all farm businesses. The e. U. s top priority is to provide maximum crop yields so that farmers can compete with cheaper produce on the world market. Theres not much money left to promote organic farming. The e. U. s Agricultural Policy has led to the creation of large tracts of farmland that often lie empty. The use of chemical herbicides like life or sake has turned fields into reddish brown deserts. The e. U. s Common Agricultural policy may be responsible for killing off large numbers of birds and useful insects. Weve come to northwestern germany to meet some environmentalists who are waiting for lap wings to return from their Winter Migration the birds come here to breed since the 1990 s. The lapping population has declined by nearly 90 percent in this area the environmentalists are concerned about that. Stiff test us its clear to me that the fate of the human race is more closely connected to the fate of the last points than wed like it to be just why its important and website to. Our ecosystems are
becoming more and more unstable and the reduction in the left wing population is an obvious symptom of the problem of the any of the others you know that. Lap points like to breed in fields but about 3 quarters of their nests are destroyed every year by intensive Farming Methods the environmentalists mark the birds nests so that they wont be run over by tractors or other machines but the real problem is that there arent enough insects and larva anymore for the birds to feed on. Friend to go up. If the e. U. Doesnt make fundamental changes in its common Farming Policy we lose more and more insects and the left wings will disappear. And then the farmers will be hit with Court Rulings more regulations and other punitive measures and 3rd term it gets tired but for a board that will make their lives even more difficult to fit it on for chuffed and
in the end well have a catastrophe on the hearns vote for farmers and for the environment figured out for chaffed. Intensive agriculture also contributes to Climate Change for example by converting large areas of forest to farmland germanys federal Environment Agency says the e. U. Should do more to promote green agricultural methods. Up to 6. Winds are currently your policies are not sufficiently promote environmentally friendly practices. Believe that farmers who adopt green methods should get a larger subsidy and big farms that dont. Mostly get into the mice and. That would be a major turn around for the e. U. But recent polls indicate that more and more europeans are becoming concerned about protecting the environment it would seem that the German Farmers association would
also be interested In Promoting Green Agricultural policies 90 percent of all German Farmers belong to the organization. In june 28th Hundreds Of Farmers and Policy Experts gathered in vs budden for their annual convention one important Discussion Topic was the future of e. U. Subsidies. But there was hardly any mention of environmentally friendly agricultural practices. The focus was on preserving the subsidies as they are now. The federal Agriculture Minister declined our request for an interview but in a speech she defended the Farming Industry against its critics. I think louts does bite off no one believes that agriculture is exclusively responsible for damaging the climate and the environment the land itself should and allans i guess is. That i want to make it clear. That
a number of Different Things to contribute to this problem is that those who claim famine are intellectually lazy and are not doing their part to help us move forward i think Agriculture Minister is supposed to represent the interests of all the people but she seems to be particularly close to the agricultural establishment. Camp of im fighting feel i know how you feel and i know youve. Got no speech went over well she didnt want to rock the boat at a conference like this but why is the Farming Industry dead set against the proposed restructuring of the e. U. Subsidy system. This event was sponsored by a number of corporations thats the 1st clue. What do these companies have to do with German Agriculture a new study by the institute for labor and the economy at the university of payment
has come up with some answers. Researchers found a number of connections between the German FarmersAssociation Politicians the Agriculture Industry the Food Production sector Financial Companies and the chemical industry. Players here b. S. F. By a crop science and saying get into the Institute Experts have documented a total of 560. 00 connections skippy them and they all talk to each other. The study names 75. 00 Companies Associations and Political Parties theres one group at the center is of the German Farmers association and. The study indicates that Top Association officials represent a range of interests besides farming. All for example association
president Joachim Rick Reed is linked to 18 different companies. This graphic shows All Of You Joachim Rock Feeds connections. For example he says on the Advisory Boards of the over in v. N. Surance company. The shuffler can rent and buy and germanys Development Agency for agribusiness through areas into the us could you dont survive that so far game. Hes also on the Supervisory Board of by a corporation that sells various products to farmers like fertilizers and pesticides on the danforth soft. Feed where is the number of different you not really sure whose interest is actually representing. His interests of the fact that. Several other top officials of the Farmers Association have ties to big corporations the companies that these people represent make good money selling
products and services to farmers the associations General Secretary ban talk chris can sees no Conflict Of Interest here. Its important to note that all of the companies you just mentioned are owned by farmers. And if they didnt have these kinds of Business Connections theyd be in real trouble. Its a traditional cooperative effort even if some of these organisations have now become corporations. If you knew it. But most of these corporations generate billions in sales and have other Business Interests besides those of farmers. The Farmers Association executives benefit substantially from their ties to corporations that sell farmers the products and services they need and the farmers pay for all that with the money they get from e. U. Subsidies. So the association has
a vested interest in keeping this Subsidy System just the way it is. Over several decades the Farmers Association has built up a sophisticated lobbying network that allows them to influence the political Decision Making process earns Public Opinion as well that by in the spirit of sports and it has actual time for some here it seems as though the association will not be supporting Subsidy Reform anytime soon can the e. U. Do anything to help weve come to the European Parliament in brussels to attend a session of the Agriculture Committee the members are due to vote on a proposal to cut some of the Farm Subsidies. Perhaps some of the money would be better spent to promote Farming Methods that help to protect the environment a majority of the Committee Members belong to the conservative Peoples Party group. Germanys alba deaths has been the Party Spokesman on the committee for 10 years death is not only a powerful politician hes also Chairman Of The Board of one of the various Largest Dairy cooperatives buy on mt we asked him whether hes using his political influence to keep down the prices that the coop pays to farmers. As an issue of calling me a lobbyist is a mean spirited allegation for can we can my constituents have known me since i was a young man i had the best Election Results in all of bavaria in 2004 when i 1st ran for the European Parliament when there were more than 30 parties on the ballot i won with just over 70 percent of the vote of the people of my district know me and they would reject such allegations or that sort of question. Dest has also been active in the Farmers Association for more than 40 years and hes
a member of the Parliament Committee that certifies the use of pesticides plus he serves on the bio Advisory Board by Vos Sells Products and services to farmers including pesticides desk doesnt seem too concerned about the deadly effects that these chemicals have on useful insects. Farming methods in my part of the country havent changed in 40 years ago so why Blame Farmers now for the decline in Insect Populations lots of pesticides arent responsible thats what linda move for 40 years ago 70 percent of the past the size that we used were highly toxic we dont use those anymore but back then they didnt bother the useful insects so this discussion is hypocritical for global. But numerous studies indicate that the use of highly effective pesticides is indeed responsible for much of the decline in Insect Populations. A few minutes later
dissent his Party Colleagues voted against the proposal to reduce the subsidies so the payments will continue for the time being and there will be no reforms of the e use Common Agricultural policy before the next European Parliament elections. Because so id rather have this position on the committee than serve as a National Agriculture minister because i have more influence here than a minister does if you will if youre in full swing over those real nuts and by saying that im not being disrespectful of the ministers only because it is obvious they have a difficult and complicated job to do this is always your view but here i can talk to colleagues from all over europe and from all over the world. I can meet with Agriculture Ministers from britain the us brazil new Zealand Australia and african
countries. When they displace pull the wool most that will include. Those countries and others will continue to buy subsidized european farm products. Also serves on the Agriculture Committee and has called for radical policy reforms. Busy to this today theres no law that says we have to focus on International Markets and im not opposed to trade or exports but our 1st priority should be europe yes we should take a regional approach. Its absurd for us to export milk to australia and then have australia export milk to us on this that milk is being dumped on the world market by this australian and german Dairy Farmers arent making any money and people wonder why we should not export basic food. Products like milk. Which is supported by. Appears to be broken and those subsidies are financed by
european taxpayers. Anything to help fix the situation. Perhaps they could make different choices when it comes to buying food. Is the c. E. O. Of germany an organization that promotes Sustainable Agriculture and. Shes brought home. And explains why consumers should be concerned about. This is made to see as if this flour is very inexpensive. Cost but it also has lots of Heating Costs that well have to pay because this is the cindy cost for example the week comes from soil thats being ruined because of the over use of fertilizers and pesticides. So the prices we pay at the supermarket may seem cheap but theyre really not american discount and. Pork products are also inexpensive
in part because pig feed is cheap the main reason for that is that its made from products that are grown on farms that are heavily subsidized by the e. U. Its get. This meaty comes from cakes that have been raised on fattening farms so that they quickly end up weighing 122150. 1 to be food for the sick. The phones use concentrated feed and they completely ignore the basic rules of raising livestock. Hudson says that many consumers dont know where their food comes from so they end up supporting an agricultural system that is focused on profit and damages the environment. And claim is alone cant change the situation because the Farm Policy Agenda is set by the politicians as id be 70 alive if we come. So weve come to berlin to
talk to some politicians after all any reforms to the e. U. s Farm Subsidies have to be approved by the governments of the 28 Member States the bundestag has its own food and Agriculture Committee. M. P. Renate kuhn asked a member of the green party serves on the committee she was also the federal Agriculture Minister from 2001 to 2005. He watches it depends on the committee her. Has been discussing the important issues that the Agriculture Industry faces some members press the fact that they are farmers but these people dont act like m. P. s because they make decisions based on Business Interests and. Go on. And indeed a majority of the Agriculture Committee members own farms and are members of the Farmers Association. These m. P. s have the political clout to block any efforts at
reform. Says that Committee Members should not put personal Business Interests ahead of the Public Interest she wants the e. U. To develop a new system for allocating Farm Subsidies. I this just as i then put some of this public money should be used to finance public services. I believe that a large part of the subsidies at least 15000000000 Euros should be invested in a Nature Conservation fund that farmers could use that would definitely be in the publics best interest because it would help stop the damage to biodiversity and the environment we should be funding organic farming not the over exploitation of nature oh well im going not to. But only a few of the Agriculture Committee members agree with you now just most of them want to keep the e. U. Subsidy system just the way it is the situation in the German Parliament is almost
identical to the one in brussels. The politicians seem more interested in preserving the status quo instead of protecting the environment the Farmers Association is also opposed to Subsidy Reforms. And we return to the institute for labor and the economy to learn more about the associations lobbying network. Do you see that souls are still what were trying to find out why serious agricultural reform proposals have been consistently blocked in both the german or and European Parliaments and you know or we wanted to get to the bottom of the situation. The body or the political interests that work here and what role if any the loveliest play is smalls. The researchers came across a little known Organization Called the forum for modern agriculture. Before
aims to inform the general public about the benefits of agriculture on its website there are no reports about environmental problems Factory Farms or the extinction of animal species. But we did find an article that justifies the use of. A controversial herbicide. The Farmers Association helped to set up the forum. For this form of good has nothing to do with politics Political Tool it simply brings various Farming Groups under one roof and tries to inform the public about what these groups are doing which i do see you to inform me of. The forums Supervisory Board includes executives from Agro ChemicalCompanies Like buyer crop science. And the association of farm Credit Unions a lot of pretty important people are associated with this informational forum. Holes as we believe that its an attempt to identify the industrys key policies and then coordinate them with the politician us critic so arguments of. The chairman of the forums board of directors as you walk in route feet the president of the Farmers Association. Members of the Advisory Board include the head of the federal agency that advises the government on potential Health Hazards including pesticides. These misguided policies taken to go. There have created a huge agricultural waste land in germany. But there are still some small farms scattered around the country that you sustainable methods for growing crops as part of the effort to protect the Environment Biodiversity and wildlife. The broader Vien Eco Complex is located about 50 kilometers northeast of berlin and it covers 1400. 00 acres which makes it the largest organic farm in germany the farm aims to restore maintain and enhance ecological harmony the animal feed is 100 percent organic and half of it is grown right on the farm the idea is to maintain a selfcontained and selfsustaining enterprise that is compatible with the local environment. Yvon most of them fed on we grow our crops and harvest them. And those cups contain a new chance that the found in the soil. We also sell some of the grain to bakeries. But we use a lot of it to feed the animals. Also have less nomads for zones and we take them in your compile stead and then put it on the fields as fertilizer and so with of
the fed up. They dont use liquid fertiliser here unlike most conventional farms. The broad having complex also receive subsidies from the e. U. But not enough to make up for the lower crop yields that are common among organic farms. To increase profitability they market their products directly and charge higher prices. Still Broader Vision has shown that organic farming can work on a large scale. I dont blame any farmer for the situation that were in now for and so they were doing exactly what was expected of them yet they cut costs and increased efficiency for charged or not. But here at proto humans weve learned that there are alternative methods and its incredibly exciting for me to be part of a project that does more than just simply grow crops. Its supported. Edu
Farm Subsidies that encourage Environmental Protection would be a sound investment because they would benefit both farmers and consumers. Down the road but if you are no one the keyboard you can learn from your local me for. Exposing and justice global news that matters to you made for mines. The world is getting more soon. Moores could just
refuse a lot of trouble. To global 3000. 00 talks would seem british researchers to take a more optimistic view. Though while it is not always a good plan but its much much faster than it was after. Is the world really getting better. A global 3000. 00 special reports. Starts august 19th sunday didnt