Europe rule change fails to lift harvest

Efforts to boost farm production in Europe have failed in spite of record market prices and a move by the European Commission to let farmers use more of their land to grow crops. The European Union in 2007 scrapped a long-standing rule requiring farmers to set aside 10 per cent of their land in an attempt to increase output and cool prices. But data released on 14 January 2008 showed that French and Germans farmers sowed less than 2 per cent more winter crops in spite of the measures.

Wikipedia: Set-aside http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Set-aside

European Commission: DG Agriculture and Rural Development: Agricultural Markets: Arable crops http://ec.europa.eu/agriculture/markets/crops/index_en.htm

European Commission: Press Release: IP/08/1402: Cereals: Council approves zero set-aside rate for autumn 2007 and spring 2008 sowings http://europa.eu/rapid/pressReleasesAction.do?reference=IP/07/1402

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