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In 2003, the PAC reform set up a new system for
allocating subsidies provided to farmers. The
measures adopted are based on the respect of
environmental regulations, the payment of a direct
subsidy based on the area of land not in production,
as well as the reinforcement of subsidies for rural
development. Implementation of this reform,
beginning in 2005, raised a number of questions on
the possible direction agriculture would take and
the future of the farming profession: changes in
cropping, the amount of uncultivated land,
consequences on landscapes, and the market supply in
grains, oil-producing crops, and protein crops.
Freeze-frame on Provence...
It is within this context in 2006 and 2007 that
Cemagref scientists conducted a study designed to
identify the strategies adopted by large-scale
farmers in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur (PACA)
region. This study, financed by the PACA Regional
Council, was based on surveys taken among
large-scale farmers in three contrasted agricultural
zones: a dry agricultural zone and an irrigated
agricultural zone situated in the Alpes de
Haute-Provence department, and a periurban
agricultural zone near the city of Aix-en-Provence,
in the Bouches-du-Rhône department. Interviews were
conducted on a representative sample of farmers,
roughly 30 per zone. In addition to describing the
existing farm systems, the questionnaires aimed to
clarify the strategies farmers were implementing in
five domains: the choice of crops, crop management
strategies, land management strategies, the
diversification of activities, and the development
of practices and products.
The effects of the CAP need to be put into
perspective
One direct effect of this reform concerns cropping,
although these choices have a more nuanced effect on
farmers’ other strategies. Thus, in 2006, the
acreage devoted to durum wheat clearly decreased in
the three zones, with other diversification crops
(hybrid lavender, feed crops, seed crops, barley,
sunflower, and rape seed, for example). In 2007,
however, the CAP effect was counterbalanced by the
sharp increase in grain prices that curbed the
decrease in land area planted in durum wheat by
renewing the interest in this crop. Assisting
farmers in becoming reactive to market signals was
indeed one of the objectives of the 2003 reform. The
study shows that nonproduction remains a very
marginal land use practice.
The effects of the CAP need to be put into
perspective in relation to all the internal and
external factors affecting the farm. These include
the socioeconomic context (tension on the world
grain market, price of irrigation water, etc.), the
climate in Provence marked by repeated droughts
since 2003, the characteristics of production tools
(soils, available labor, etc.), as well as the
factors directly related to the farming family
(technical skills, preferences, and personal
projects). Given today’s high grain prices, the CAP
reform does not fundamentally change the shape of
agriculture in Provence. However, the CAP is not
rigid: changes are being negotiated to respond to
the mutations in the world context.
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The CAP, a few landmarks
In 1957, the Common Agricultural Policy
was born. In addition to increasing
agricultural productivity in Europe, it
was designed to ensure an equitable
standard of living for farmers and
reasonable prices for consumers. Until
1992, agricultural prices were
guaranteed to producers. In 1992,
European prices were aligned on world
prices. To compensate the decrease in
farming incomes, subsidies were
allocated in relation to the crops
produced. In 2003, to bring the producer
closer to the international market, a
system of subsidies based on the area of
land cultivated, independent of
production, was initiated: the Single
Farm Payment (SFP). Since the payment of
subsidies is dissociated from the
production act and crop volume, it is up
to the farmer to define the most
advantageous farming strategy.
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Coming in the next issue of Ingénieries EAT
(N°53 July 2008),
2003 CAP reform: the first effects on
large-scale farms in the Provence
Alpes-Cote-’Azur region.
(Françoise Alavoine-Mornas, Geneviève Giraud)
For more information:
The complete report, “Study of agricultural
dynamics resulting from the potential impacts of
the CAP reform on large-scale farms in the PACA
region,” is online on the Cemagref website:
http://www.cemagref.fr/Informations/Presse/index.htm
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