[soliloquy id="48679"]
Protesting farmers in India blockade access to New Delhi
Australian observers are warning there’s a global cost to agricultural policy made in response to protests, as farmers in Europe, and now India, escalate their campaigns for better prices and fewer green regulations.
For months, tractor blockades in France, Germany, Belgium, Spain and other European countries have brought highways to a standstill, amid growing resentment about rising input costs, Net Zero and cheap imports from Ukraine.
Demonstrations have broken out again in India, less than three years after protests against changes to farm laws resulted in the legislation being repealed. Indian farmers marched on New Delhi to demand government support.
But foreign governments bowing to protest pressure could have ramifications for Australian consumers and farmers, according to Katie McRobert, the general manager of independent policy think tank the Australian Farm Institute.
“These are wicked [problems], they are complex … the best way to approach them is to look at how everything fits together to realise we are all part of a community and to identify those shared values,” she said.
Local protest, global impact
Ms McRobert said protests tended to focus on ideology and emotion rather than evidence, which was a risky foundation for decisions that affected global food supply.
“There’s a lot of environmental regulation coming out of Europe that might be specifically focused on European supply chains, but has now been expanded to capture any corporations, industries or organisations that are domiciled in Europe,” she said.
“So, they are by default setting global standards, and that is not going down well with the rest of the agricultural systems, let alone farmers in their own countries.”
These European environmental regulations are in the process of being introducing into Australia.
In a speech to parliament last week, European Union president Ursula von der Leyen proposed scrapping a plan to reduce pesticide use by 50 per cent by 2030 — saying it had become a “symbol of polarisation”.
“To move forward, more dialogue and a different approach is needed,” she said.
The move was welcomed by Copa-Cogeca, a lobby group representing 22 million European farmers, as “finally acknowledging that the approach was not the right one”.
Ms McRobert said in the past five years “prescriptive practices” dictating activity on farms had been the focus of Europe’s regulations.
“[Farmers] have been told how to farm and what to farm and they don’t necessarily see that there are good outcomes from these decisions that have been made in the European Parliaments,” she said.
“It’s not at all [surprising] that they’ve taken back to the streets again.”
Subsidised disadvantage
At the heart of the challenge for European policy makers was subsidisation and Net Zero, which Jared Greenville, executive director of the Australian Bureau of Agricultural and Resource Economics and Sciences (ABARES) said distorted global markets.
“If you’re in a country which has a high level of subsidies … you’re paying more [for food] and have less choice,” Dr Greenville said.
“But if you’re in a country like Australia, what it can often do is depress world market prices … it means that our producers receive a lower price.”
Our struggling farmers have to compete against subsidies and import tariffs imposed by nearly all of our trading partners, in spite of what Labor and Liberal free trade zealots claim.
Australian farmers were among the least subsidised in the world, Dr Greenville said, with just over two per cent of producer revenue coming from government sources.
Yes Jared subsidies do affect exports to our trading partners and there is not a thing Australia can do about it except re-introduce subsidies for our struggling farmers. You have been taught free trade dogma in whatever university you attended by socialist, depopulating academics infesting our once-hallowed halls of learning.
The only country in the world silly enough to adopt pure free trade is Australia backed by the Adam Smith disciples in the federal parliament and bureaucracy.
Australia’s Uniparty had better take note that Trump, as soon as he resumes office will protect American farmers as never before because he is not a socialist and understands the value of food security.
What then will the Adam Smith brigade do when trying to compete against the US?
By comparison, ABARES reported that in 2020, 61 per cent of a Norwegian farmer’s income was from the government. In Japan it was 46 per cent, and in the EU the average was 17 per cent.
Subsidies can take the form of direct payments from governments to farmers, or policies that distort market prices, which supporters argue improves food security, productivity, innovation and environmental outcomes.
But Dr Greenville said those goals were rarely achieved and instead subsidised farmers became inefficient and lost touch with consumers.
“[From] a global perspective, what we see is effectively there’s less food produced at a higher price,” he said.
“[Farmers] gradually fall behind and after a few years there is a really big gap between their cost of production and that of unsubsidised producers.
“They’ve become so unproductive the value of that subsidy gets dissipated away and so they’re feeling that they’re not getting a fair price for their produce.”
The Indian example
In 2020, farmers in India’s north-western state of Punjab erupted into protests over laws that some feared would undermine the minimum support price guaranteed to producers by the government.
Professor of sociology at Jawaharlal Nehru University in New Delhi, Surinder Singh Jodhka, said not all farmers or crops were supported by the price.
But those who do benefit from it are determined to hold onto it.
“This was introduced in 1960s when India was trying to ensure food security and develop a system of food distribution at the national level,” he said.
“The government of India encouraged farmers to produce food grains over other crops, for example, wheat and rice.
“If you were not able to sell it in the market you could always sell it to the government at the guaranteed minimum secure price.”
Eight people killed in 2021Indian farm protests
Dr Jodhka said the year-long protests that eventually spread to other regions catapulted farming into the national debate.
“Farmers do feel that they were able to push back and they are very happy about it,” he said.
“They are also confident that if government tries to do something like this, they can do it again.”
As fresh protests demanding a higher minimum price broke out this week, Dr Jodhka said life in rural villages, where 65 per cent of India’s 1.3 billion people still lived, was rapidly changing.
“[The government] realised that they cannot ignore [agriculture], but they’re still operating with this notion of welfarism … rather than thinking about the diversities of the agrarian situation and budgeting for investments in agriculture,” he said.
He said there was a social obligation, not just an economic one, to get the policy right.
“India has experienced famines where hundreds of thousands of people died on streets,” he said.
“People have starvation in their memory, they don’t want to give up on their land … that gives them a sense of security.”
Despite the risks of protests influencing policy, Ms McRobert said it was also dangerous to ignore the issues.
“When people are driven to protest, it is usually because they’re at the extreme end … it does demonstrate a level of frustration that is well beyond the norm,” she said.
“It’s beholden on policy makers to at least listen to what’s being said.
“But then you also need to go beyond the actual process itself and say, ‘So where are we trying to head together?'”
Editor: Cairns News supports ABC Rural reporters who generally, are the last bastion of truth within the corporation.
There are neem trees growing wild everywhere and in some shires been declared a noxious woody weed. Ed
[quote]. ‘So they [the EU] are by default setting the global standards, and that is not going down well with the rest of the agricultural systems, let alone farmers in their own countries.’
‘[Farmers] have been told how to farm and what to farm and they don’t necessarily see that there are good outcomes from these decisions that have been made in the European Parliaments,’ she said. [unquote]
Well I never, what part of the EUSSR don’t the western Kulaks get?
Following the collapse of the former eastern European government model (USSR), and its amalgamation and resurgence within the western European model (EUSSR), meaning the post-1989 EU, which marked the start of a new beginning for the original post-WWII EU, it was then realised, that the blundering stupidity of controlling the people via ‘State ownership of the means of production’ could be easily upgraded via the superior mechanism of ‘State control of the means of production.’
With last century’s lessons learnt and former ideological mistakes distinguished and amended, the western European Central Government that inherited last century’s system, finally realised that State ownership of the means of production was a totally unnecessary requirement, or more to the point, a State liability: – as all the State really needs to do – ‘is control the means of production.’
The western European Centralised State now acknowledged, that ‘control of the means of production’ can be easily implemented without any need for State ‘ownership of the means of production,’ which is by far, drastically superior to anything Marx conjured up, as the financial costs and liabilities of asset ownership are now offloaded onto the owner, whilst the State maintains full control of the productive assets: – what’s not to like? Although too subtle for most to grasp, it is this upgraded USSR model through which the EUSSR governs. Why do you think there are millions of ‘rules and regulations’ for absolutely everything under the Sun?, yes of course, – ‘Regulatory Control’ is the mechanism through which ‘to control the means of production.’
To better understand this instrument, we need only look at a couple of recent examples involving two of the wealthiest asset owners in the World, namely, Jack Ma and Elon Musk. In regards to the latter, it was only a couple a months back, when the EUSSR issued its controlling rules and regulations to Elon Musk, stating that if he wants X to continue operating in Europe, the company must abide by their rules and start censoring what the Commission construes as hate speech, anti-State speech, or posts critical of their policies, agendas or leaders, etc [huge fines and imprisonment terms are already in place], which Musk begrudgingly agreed to put in place, as he has no other choice except the withdrawal of X from Europe. So in Europe, the former free speech platform of X is now mostly under EUSSR State control, without even the slightest need for State ownership of the company.
In this way, whilst the EUSSR Commission maintains overall governing control over the company, the costs and liabilities of owning the company are now offloaded onto Musk and the shareholders. As can be seen, this really is a superior upgrade over the EUSSR’s eastern European predecessor. [At least Gab.ai refuse to bow to Brussels, so we should see more Europeans coming on to this platform].
In China, it was the same with Jack Ma, when the CCP halted the IPO of Alibaba’s subsidiary digital banking system, Ant Group, as well as the digital education sector, and much more.
These ideologists have moved on from last century, and people need to recognise this if they are going to challenge their rule.
Amazing how all these know-it alls, with university degrees but never had their hands dirtied with soil are the ones elevated to positions to make policy on food production and other industry.
One CN commenter has already posted this link but here’s more about the JPMorgan Chase, BlackRock drop out of the massive UN climate alliance.
Q asked is: Was it the negative return or the potential lawsuits that is starting to turn this crazy climate leviathan around?
TYPEwww.foxbusinessBEFORE.com/politics/jpmorgan-chase-drops-out-of-massive-un-climate-alliance-in-stunning-move
JPMorgan Chase and institutional investors BlackRock and State Street Global Advisors (SSGA) announced that they are quitting or, in the case of BlackRock, substantially scaling back involvement in a massive United Nations climate alliance [Climate Action 100+] formed to combat global warming through corporate sustainability agreements.
The stunning announcements come as the largest financial institutions in the U.S. and worldwide face an onslaught of pressure from consumer advocates and Republican states over their environmental, social and governance (ESG) priorities.
Climate Action 100+ was formally established in December 2017 at the U.N. as a way of aligning the world’s largest private sector financiers of greenhouse gas producers. Since the association was created, it has grown to include more than 700 financial institutions that are collectively responsible for a staggering $68 trillion in assets under management.
“ESG is an existential threat to American agriculture and small farmers. It must be stopped”, says Wilton Simpson, Florida Republican Agriculture Commissioner.
Video: GOP Commissioners launch probe of U.S. Banks over ESG
TYPEwww.foxbusinessBEFORE.com/video/6346019394112
One CN commenter has already posted this link but here’s more about the JPMorgan Chase, BlackRock drop out of the massive UN climate alliance.
Q asked is: Was it the negative return or the potential lawsuits that is starting to turn this crazy climate leviathan around?
https://www.foxbusiness.com/politics/jpmorgan-chase-drops-out-of-massive-un-climate-alliance-in-stunning-move
JPMorgan Chase and institutional investors BlackRock and State Street Global Advisors (SSGA) announced that they are quitting or, in the case of BlackRock, substantially scaling back involvement in a massive United Nations climate alliance [Climate Action 100+] formed to combat global warming through corporate sustainability agreements.
The stunning announcements come as the largest financial institutions in the U.S. and worldwide face an onslaught of pressure from consumer advocates and Republican states over their environmental, social and governance (ESG) priorities.
Climate Action 100+ was formally established in December 2017 at the U.N. as a way of aligning the world’s largest private sector financiers of greenhouse gas producers. Since the association was created, it has grown to include more than 700 financial institutions that are collectively responsible for a staggering $68 trillion in assets under management.
“ESG is an existential threat to American agriculture and small farmers. It must be stopped”, says Wilton Simpson, Florida Republican Agriculture Commissioner.
Video: GOP Commissioners launch probe of U.S. Banks over ESG
https://www.foxbusiness.com/video/6346019394112
Australia’s Uniparty had better take note that Trump, as soon as he resumes office will protect American farmers as never before because he is not a socialist and understands the value of food security.
Maybe not a socialist, but he IS a genocidal WEF planted puppet who also promised the American people in 2020 he would withdraw ALL US funding to the WHO, and in 2016, pre-[S]election, promised to incarcerate Hillary Clinton for war crimes, among many other of his dishonoured, phony promises.
Why do so many fools still believe any garbage that proud, narcissistic POS utters from his lying, treacherous mouth?
WAKE UP, you’re all being absurdly hoodwinked by this bigmouthed, lying shyster!
And no-one should put it past him to use ‘food security’ which he indeed understands, as a way to enforce the UN & WEF’s planned tyranny. I.e. cut-off or, severely restrict food supplies to starve everyone into submission. Same as the rest of the treasonous liars can, and most likely will in the very near future.
Hope to God, whoever or whatever you might perceive ‘God’ to be, that he NEVER resumes office.
You need to think outside the box – [S]elections are all rigged – you will never be able to restore our freedom and human rights by wasting your time and hopes believing your vote cast in any presidential or general Selection will have any effect. They’re ALL 100% controlled by the humanity loathing, mass-murdering Davos gang, who Trump has convinced you all he can do something about, when he is actually one of the worst of them.
Pat from Vic… Tip.. if using Neem powder get some empty 00 Veg capsules (750mg per capsule) and fill with the powder, also use for the Andrographis (which is even worse tasting in my opinion)… both are fantastic herbs with a multitude of benefits.
zzz3856 said – “Neem is the equivalent of ivm.”
Not to put anyone off, but Neem Leaf is the WORST tasting stuff this side of the Andromeda Galaxy, even worse than Andrographis (how is that even possible?).
So you KNOW it’s doing you good!
… and Joe Bogan said – “… perhaps they are also more conscious of depopulation agendas.”
Damn right, let’s not foget what India had to endure under the iron fist of the British East India Company, and what they had to go through to get those genocidal bastards off their back. The company’s PRIVATE ARMIES herded tens of thousands of Indians into stadiums and MACHINED GUNNED them, among NUMEROUS other wholesale atrocities.
We here in Australia are having our OWN “British East India Company” moment right about now, being ground down into the dirt by the foreign-owned COMMONWEALTH OF AUSTRALIA CORPORATION, complete with its own PRIVATE ARMIES entrenched in every Australian state and territory. We still haven’t figured it out yet.
These Indians should dismantle their government and rebuild it in the template of 1776 America. Keep their arms and don’t let these globalist punks get close to a bully pulpit again.
Joe Bogan… Yes, the Indians are very healthy people because of what they eat. Their food is full of spices and herbs so food is their medicine. Ayurvedic medicine is fantastic and used by all Indians. Practitioners run in generations of families.
It is similar to Chinese medicine in that these herbs and spices have been used for thousands of years and are very effective.
Neem is the equivalent of ivm.
Special Riot police used in Spain against farmers… not the usual police force..
https://expose-news.com/2024/02/10/spain-riot-police-are-used-to-crush-farmers-protests/
In India protestors were bombarded with drones carrying tear gas canisters… The Indians used kites to take them down, also wore armour against rubber bullets and other protection, and had plenty of tennis balls to throw at the drones…
Heroes, all of them… and we need to be that way too !!
I went to probably the first ever Perth anti-Covid rally, there were only about 50 people there when I arrived, they might have got up to 100, I went along because it was mentioned by commenter Aussiemal way back then. The location was parliament house in Perth and at the same time there was a big mob of Indian farmers protesting. The Indians are more switched on about natural medicines like Homeopathy and Ayurveda which are abundant there and the Indians are mostly pretty healthy looking too. But perhaps they are also more conscious of depopulation agendas.
Another produced sideshow , psychological indocrination via “news”.. ‘binaural beats’ … entrainment…through repitition
TURN OFF YOUR TV !!
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FWIW, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen is not elected.
And she also happens to be a WEF insider – you know, that band of genocidal psychopaths who want to cull 95% of the global population. A pack of democidal maniacs who NEVER back down, they only ever DOUBLE DOWN.
IOW, I’d tend to discount the relevance of European farming policies to the wider world, unless we all want to DIE (which seems to be the direction the fake Australian “government” is taking us anyway, not surprising since they all work for Klaus and creepy Bill anyway).
If we’re going to look overseas for advice, we might be better served by taking instructions from our Indian friends, seeing as how they seem to grasp the importance of ACTUALLY HAVING SOMETHING TO EAT.
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