Brussels, 27/03/2007 (Agence Europe) - On 23 March, the European Commission adopted the report describing the situation for European agriculture in 2005. This document, which accompanies the general report on EU activities during the same year, shows that agricultural income in the 25 member states fell by 6.3% in 2005, compared to the previous year. Revenue fell by 6.6% in the 15 “old” member states and by 3.8% in the new member states. The sharpest drop was recorded in Hungary (-19.3%), and the greatest increase related to farmers in Lithuania (+25.9%). The report also indicates that in the first nine months of 2005, the overall value of Community agricultural exports increased steeply (+8%), whilst prices experienced greatly differing development, depending on the products in question. In 2005, the Union continued to be a net importer of agricultural products, but its trade balance has been redressed greatly due to a considerable increase in its exports.
On developments within certain agricultural markets, the Commission points out that the cereal crop for the EU-25 for the 2004/2005 marketing year stood at 284 million tonnes, equivalent to 54 million tonnes (23%) more than in 2003/2004. In the Union, the surface area in question increased by 1 million hectares and the yield increased by 1 tonne per hectare (equivalent to 22%). For all cereals with the exception of oats, the EU recorded production which was higher than in the marketing year 2003/2004, with increases ranging from 11% for barley to 42% for rye. The average yield for all cereals showed record yields both for the EU-15 (6.02 tonnes per hectare) and for the new member states (4.09 tonnes per hectare).
The surface area given over to oleaginous plants in the EU25 remained stable in 2005 (+3% compared to 2004): +7% for rape (4.7 million ha), +1% for sunflower (to 2.23 million hectares) and +2.5% for soya (to 282,000 ha). The total surface area given over to oleaginous plants now stands at an estimated 7 million ha, of which 870,000 ha planted in non-food crops which benefit from the set-aside regime, and 350,000 ha under the energy crop regime.
European production of sugar was estimated at 19.6 million tonnes in 2005, which is slightly less than in 2004 (19.93 million). Unlike the situation in 2004/2005, Community quotas had to be reduced considerably in order to respect commitments taken within the framework of the WTO. The production of drinking milk in the EU25 remained relatively stable in 2005, at a level of 33,000,000 tonnes. At the end of the year 2005, the EU had 1.4 million milk producers, some 90,000 fewer than in 2004.
For 2005, the production of beef and veal meat in the EU25 is estimated at 7.84 million tonnes (2.5% lower than 2004 levels) and consumption at 8.14 million tonnes. In total, imports of bovine meat stood at 528,000 tonnes in 2005. Since 2003, the Community has been a net importer of bovine meat. The situation for the sheep and goat meat market remained relatively stable for the whole of 2005. The average price of lamb reached a very high level in the fourth quarter (25% higher than prices for the previous year). Production of poultry within the European Union experienced a sharp drop in 2003 (-6.6%) due to the bird flu crisis. EU25 production took off again in 2004 (+1.4% compared to 1999 levels). The market is still in an extremely fragile state. Consumption of poultry meat fell in the last four months of 2005. (lc)