Tag Archives: forums
RO PAC Alliance: Draft law concerning The Sale Of Farmland To Foreigners Is Land Expropriation
Monday, November 4, 2013 The RO PAC Alliances argues that the draft law concerning trade in farmland with foreigners suggested by the Agriculture Ministry is tantamount to land expropriation as trade is done mainly for real estate and energy purposes and in favour of European land speculators. ‘Foreigners already own in Romania, through registered companies, between 1 and 1.2 million hectares of land, but I have not seen any foreigner working the land so far. It is again the Romanian farmers who work the land and the foreigners cash in the subsidies coming from the EU. The output of these areas is not even included in the farm circuit, but most is spent on energy cultures. We want the subsidies to be awarded to support food production and to compensate for the losses of farmers who produce food instead of power. The over 1 million hectares already owned by foreigners are in documents, but I suspect some land has been bought without the transactions having been recorded, particularly in the south part of the country and in Moldavia, where there has been no land registry in place. After the law is implemented, the real disaster in the land market of Romania will come to light,’ says RO PAC Chairman Claudiu Franc, also chairman of the Federation of Romanian Cattle Farmers. He argues that the draft law concerning the sale of farm land should be discussed and analysed again and only drawn up after a serious consolation with those actually knowing the matter. Franc mentions the example of Poland, which limits the sale of land 100 km away from the national border, and the example of France, where the landowner is not allowed to do what he wants with the land because the land belongs to the national heritage. ‘Poland has limited the buying of land by foreigners within a radius of 100 km off the national border, arguing that this would be tantamount to a warless occupation of the country. In France, they say the land is the property of the French citizens but it belongs to the national heritage and means something to the French State, therefore not everything goes when it comes to land. Romania should require similar things so that it may be able to ensure food safety and security for the Romanian citizens,’ said Franc. The Confederation of Romania’s Peasant Associations (CATAR) and the RO PAC Alliance on Thursday organised at the Indagra agriculture and food trade fair in Bucharest a conference on a new agrarian paradigm in Romania. The RO PAC Alliance, of which CATAR is a member, represents the largest Romanian agricultural organisations, federations, confederations, leagues and forums that have developed their own version of a national rural development programme for 2014-2020. Continue reading
Cost Of Farmland In South West Reaches An All Time High
Saturday, September 21, 2013 THE cost of farmland in the South West has reached an all-time high and prices are expected to continue to rise. The Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) published its half-yearly Rural Land Market Survey last week. It states the cost of farmland has jumped to £7,250 per acre between January and June this year, hitting a record high and just behind the national average of £7,441 per acre. On-going surge in demand, mainly from farmers keen to expand, has been blamed for soaring land prices. Fifty percent more surveyors reported increases rather than decreases in demand in the first six months of 2013. Gareth Rowe, an agricultural property valuer with Stags in Truro, said: “Here in the south west we are seeing continued demand, mainly from farmers, for good, well located blocks of land close to the farming base of the purchaser. “Good pasture and arable land is selling well at premium values where local interest is strong. However we are also seeing lower levels of interest, in some other blocks of poorer land, with lower levels of competition from amenity/investor purchasers in this market. This is leading to a growing variance in values and makes it important to know the local market.” Andrew Ranson, another land agent with Stags in Cornwall, said: “In addition, Stags are again seeing some increase in the demand for farms with a farmhouse. This is in line with the national picture, which shows surveyors’ price expectations for residential farms has turned positive for the first time since the second half of 2010. This looks to be consistent with the positive noises being heard about the general residential market.” “An example of this is Axford Farm at Callington which Stags have very recently sold. This was a well-equipped 215 acre dairy farm, with a 4 bed bungalow and permission for a second dwelling. It has sold well to a farmer moving down from Worcestershire. Many farmers were interested, particularly as the value of the dwelling was proportionate with the land values.” Read more: http://www.westbrito…l#ixzz2fnllVqAU Follow us: @thisiscornwall on Twitter | thisiscornwall on Facebook Continue reading
The First Romanian Agriculture Fund To Provide Farmers With Financial Compensation For Economic Losses
Balkans.com Business News Correspondent – 03.09.2013 The first Romanian agriculture fund to take on risks insurers do not cover will be set up by the National Federation Pro Agro, the president of the farmers’ organization, Alexandru Jurconi, told BR last week. The fund is an income stabilization tool and will provide farmers with financial compensation for economic losses caused by such events as adverse weather and environmental calamities. While the model is a first for the Romanian market, it has a strong background in Western Europe. The need to set up an agriculture mutual fund has long been debated locally and has become more pressing in the context of climatic disasters such as last year’s drought as well the more recent food safety scandals. The fund will mostly be fuelled from public sources – 65 percent of the compensation will come from the state and EU funds, and the remaining 35 percent will represent members’ contributions. “The contribution paid by the Pro Agro Agriculture Mutual Fund members will be calculated so that it won’t be a financial burden for the farmer but can still cover compensation of up to 97 percent,” said Jurconi, adding that the organization is currently working on a contribution framework to best cover the losses suffered by farmers. Pro Agro’s announcement comes after Romania finally transposed the EU legislation pertaining to agricultural mutual funds this summer. “I believe that setting up a mutual fund would be local agriculture’s biggest achievement in the last 10 years,” said agriculture minister Daniel Constantin this June. At that time he also expressed hopes that only one such fund would be set up at national level which would “make it stronger”. Under the current law, several such mutual funds can be set up as non-governmental organizations. Any local farmers’ organization can set up a fund but one of the main conditions is that its members represent at least 30 percent of the country’s farming surface. Any farmer who reports revenues can subscribe to a mutual fund both individually and through associations of which the farmer is a member. In the first phase compensation applications will be submitted to the Agency of Payments and Intervention for Agriculture (APIA) until the mutual fund develops a national network, the authorities have previously announced. “In addition to the insurance companies, farmers will have the option to contribute to a mutual fund created and supported by the European Commission. It will be an NGO whose running costs will be supported for a three-year period from EU rural development funds to which Romania will have access,” added Constantin. Members of the National Federation Pro Agro will automatically become members of the mutual fund, which will be headquartered in Bucharest and will have seven other regional branches. Business Review Romania Continue reading
