LETVIA
I manage a farm with my Dad, growing winter wheat, winter oilseed rape, peas and beans. To ensure biodiversity we have areas of grasslands and red clover. Our farm is a member of the largest farmers’ NGO and the largest grain cooperative in Latvia – ‘Latraps’.
There is an uneven situation within the single market – many member states in Eastern Europe receive less support. This means our farms have to be larger to ensure some level of competitiveness on an EU scale, therefore, I envision that those few small farms that are still working in my region, will be bankrupt and bought by larger farms, if no changes are made within CAP. Another big challenge is irrational green movement, if it has no credible scientific studies backing their initiatives.
The main CAP policy that needs changing is external convergence. Many political questions, especially regarding plant protection products, are being approached from a purely emotion-based perspective, with economics and science completely ignored.
Probably farms will have to become more independent of human workforce, due to urbanisation. I hope that many of the current cooperatives that sell goods will also start to provide machinery and other rental services.