EAAP Technical Series – serie

"This publication contains proceedings of the Symposium on 'Interactions Between Climate and Animal Production' organised by the Commission on Animal Biometeorology of the International Society of Biometeorology and Dipartimento di Produzioni Animali of the Università della Tuscia (Viterbo, Italy), held in Viterbo September 4th 2003.The book discusses conceptual and methodological bases for research in animal biometeorology. It reviews the current state of knowledge, and will provide original contributions on: - the effects of climate on animal production, health and welfare; - tools for description and measurement of climate; - strategies for alleviation of climatic stress in farm animals; - the impact of animal husbandry on global climate."

"A Foot and Mouth Disease outbreak is not by definition similar to a Foot and Mouth Disease crisis. Why then did the 2001 outbreak result in a crisis situation in the Netherlands? It was not because nobody was prepared for it. The Ministry of Agriculture, Nature Management and Fisheries had a scenario in stock.The scenario was applied as intended. The scenario did what it was supposed to do: it prevented the spreading of the disease, it resulted in a relatively soon eradication of the disease and it minimised damage to agricultural exports. Nevertheless, the crisis was there. ""Foot and Mouth Disease: new values, innovative research agenda’s and policies"" reports a process in which individuals and groups involved in the crisis participated in a joint analysis of what caused the crisis, and in the making of a policy and research agenda. The conclusion was that ignorance of the societal function of animals and countryside was the cause of the crisis: the scenario focussed on Foot and Mouth Disease control in a production-oriented environment. In reality many people perceived that the scenario and its rigid application threatened nonproduction values such as the companion role of animals and the recreation function of the landscape.Inevitably a next outbreak of Foot and Mouth Disease will occur. However, research and policy makers should seriously take up this perception of animals and countryside to prevent an outbreak of becoming a deep crisis again."

"In 2001-2002, the EU Phare Business Support Programme funded an inter-country project dealing with strengthening of cattle breeders associations as business representative organisations in eight then EU candidate countries: Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Lithuania, Poland, Romania, Slovakia and Slovenia. Breeders associations from Austria, Germany and Italy also participated in the project, while the European Association for Animal Production acted as the project leader. The project also known under its acronym as BABROC aimed at facilitating the integration of the cattle industries in the Central and Eastern European countries in the EU system and at improving quality of services provided by breeders associations to their members. The present publication contains invited papers for the international workshop on the image of cattle industry and its products, held in Verona, Italy 8 March 2002. Technical papers as well as statements made by Messrs. J. Fischler, EU Commissary, and G. Alemanno, Italian Minister of Agriculture, deal with expectations of consumers regarding the safety and quality of cattle products as the basic message for all involved in the cattle industry."

"The introduction of a quota system has a large impact on the development of the agricultural sector, the agro-business and individual farms. In April 2004 the Central and Eastern European (CEE) Countries entering the EU had to implement a quota system for milk. It requires institution building, setting up administrative procedures, choices of the system, choice of priority groups, handling of butterfat reference, dealing with a national reserve, control aspects, quota transfer, farm management aspects and communication to farmers.All early attention at national levels has been given to the administrative aspects of milk quota systems. Communication to farmers about the system and the effects on farm management is often neglected. This publication hopes to fill this gap and wants to stimulate attention on farm management and extension efforts. It presents an overview of papers from ""old"" countries and country reports from new EU countries. They all contain information about expected structural changes due to the quota system, effects on farm management, extension needs in this area and challenges in years ahead. Impressions from 7 other CEE non EU countries are also included.This book gives an extensive and unique overview of the dairy situation in the Central and Eastern European countries in the year of the enlargement of the EU and a view into the future in this regard."

The new Common Agricultural Policy, launched in 2003 and implemented since 2005, appears as a big change mainly due to the introduction of the Single Payment Scheme and the decoupling of subsidies from production. EU beef production is one of the sectors mostly affected by the existing CAP regulations. This book addresses what the impact could be on the future of European beef farming systems and in what ways could beef farmers adapt in order to ensure the sustainability of their farms.Within the Cattle Network Working Group of EAAP, a group of European economists, The Beef Task Force, composed of experts and researchers from a number of EU countries, engaged in a common project with the object of monitoring and developing studies on policy impact and farm strategy analysis.The BTF joined national studies into a common report, which is divided into four parts: the current picture of beef farming systems in Europe; CAP implementation at national level; first impact of reformed CAP on farming systems; future evolution of European beef production and land use.This book highlights disparities in CAP implementation and presents the main developments regarding EU beef farming systems: size increase, farm/regional specialization, adaptation to market requirements and, eventually, social expectations. It is of interest to policy makers and all those who concern themselves with the cattle industry.