Within the ‘greener’ CAP reform plans , the EC has proposed that all Member States should leave 7% of agricultural land to fallow already during the 2014–2020 financial period. Minister of Agriculture Helir-Valdor Seeder resolutely disapproves of the idea of such centralised regulation, since half of Estonia’s territory is covered with forest and thus cannot even be compared with the tightly packed Central Europe, and setting a demand for 7% fallow for small farmers with even less than 25 ha fields would be outright insensible.
Head of Estonian Chamber of Agriculture and Commerce Roomet Sõrmus agrees and explains in detail why the EC’s plan would not in any way benefit Estonia’s agriculture, which is already highly environment-friendly.
Source: Eesti Päevaleht: Põllumehi nörritab Brüsseli „seitsme protsendi” diktaat, by Raimo Poom; date: Tuesday, October 9, 2012