On Friday 10 January it was announced that an outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease had been confirmed in a herd of water buffalo in Märkisch-Oderland (Brandenburg). The last cases in Germany occurred in 1988. Three water buffalo out of a herd of 14 were infected and died, and the remaining animals in the herd have been culled to prevent further spread, together we understand with 200 pigs on a nearby farm as a precaution. A 3km exclusion zone and a 10km surveillance zone have been put in place; no animals or their products can be taken out of this area. An investigation is underway to determine the source of infection. Agriculture Minister, Cem Özdemir, is set to meet with industry representatives today while the Central Crisis Team for Animal Diseases will meet on Tuesday.

In the meantime, the Netherlands has banned the movement of calves from Dutch veal calf producers until 19 January. LTO (Dutch farmers union) have informed us that 136 farms had imported calves from Brandenberg since 1 December 2024. The Dutch order prohibits the movement of animals from these farms other than for slaughter under licence.

Romania has started 2025 by granting an emergency authorisation (EA) for neonicotinoid Cruiser 350 FS, directly challenging the landmark January 2023 Court of Justice of the European Union ruling that prohibits such derogations. Currently the EA applies to maize and sunflower crops in 2025, along with a number of other banned chemicals, citing severe pest infestations and economic pressures. Farmers in southern and southeastern Romania, where sunflowers and maize dominate the landscape, face significant threats from soil pests like the maize leaf weevil and wireworms. Without treatments like neonicotinoids, farmers warn of total crop losses in some affected areas. The ministry of agriculture cited these risks in its decision, stating that treated seeds will be limited to areas with severe pest infestations and strict controls will minimize environmental risks. Romania has continued to authorise the emergency use of neonicotinoids in 2023, 2024, and now 2025.

Poland assumed the Presidency of the Council of the European Union on 1 January 2025. Poland’s Presidency work Programme priorities include ensuring a competitive and resilient agriculture sector, including ensuring that the position of farmers in the supply chain is strengthened, and their income is stable, alongside continuing work on the Vision for Agriculture and Food, expected in February 2025. According to the programme, the Presidency will also continue to work on revision of animal welfare legislation, particularly the welfare during transport dossier.

On NGTs, after previously blocking adoption due to concerns over patents and breeders’ rights, Poland in its Presidency role, will push to secure a qualified majority among member states amending draft rules on plants obtained using new genomic techniques (NGTs),

The Council’s working party on genetic resources and innovation in agriculture will meet on 20 January to discuss Poland’s proposed fixes, which aim to strike a balance between safeguarding patent protections and ensuring breeders’ access to plant material, the proposal includes clearer definitions on what a “category 1 NGT plant” is, and drawing sharp lines between product patents (covering plant traits) and process patents (covering the enabling technologies).

The latest Eurobarometer survey shows that support for the EU's common agricultural policy (CAP) has reached an all-time high. Not only has public awareness of the CAP reached its highest level since 2007, but also more than 70% of respondents agree that, through the CAP, the EU is successfully fulfilling its role in providing safe, healthy, and sustainable high-quality food.

The survey also reveals a strong appreciation for farmers among EU citizens as 92% say that, in the EU, agriculture and rural areas are important for our future, with 52% considering them ‘very important'. More than half (56%) indicate that the level of EU financial support to farmers to help stabilise their income is right. Additionally, an overwhelming majority of respondents agreed on the importance of several key issues: securing a stable supply of food in the EU at all times (94%), ensuring reasonable food prices for consumers (92%), ensuring sustainable management of natural resources (91%), and strengthening the farmer's role in the food chain (90%).

According to a new report from Farm Europe, since the start of the current EU budget period in 2021, Member States have allocated more than €18 billion in State aid to the agricultural sector.

The Netherlands has provided the most support, both in absolute terms and relative to direct payments or the national agricultural production value. During the period analysed, the aid amounted to 101% of the first pillar received by Dutch farmers. Denmark, Greece, Hungary, the Czech Republic, and Slovakia also granted substantial funds, ranging from 20% to 43% of their respective direct payments. For the 2021–2022 period, Spain distributed the equivalent of 28% of its first pillar. Lastly, while the total amounts distributed by Italy, France, and Germany remain significant, these countries limited their support to between 5% and 10% of their respective direct payments, a level below the European average. On average across Europe, these State aids only partially compensated (70%) for the loss in the real value of CAP first pillar payments resulting from their lack of indexation to inflation. It should be noted that some countries granted very little state aid to their agricultural sectors (e.g. Latvia, Estonia, Ireland, Romania, Belgium, Luxembourg, Bulgaria and Portugal).

The European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) published it’s avian influenza overview from September-December 2024 on 18 December 2024, covering from 21 September – 6 December. During this period, 657 highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) A(H5N1) and A(H5N5) virus detections were reported in domestic (341) and wild (316) birds across 27 European countries. Many domestic bird outbreaks were clustered in high poultry density areas and characterised by secondary farm-to-farm spread. No new HPAI virus detections in mammals were reported in Europe, but the number of dairy cattle farms affected in USA rose to > 800 in 16 States, and HPAI was identified in two pigs. Between 21 September - 11 December 2024, 56 human cases with avian influenza virus infection were reported in North America (45 A(H5N1) cases), Viet Nam (one A(H5)) and China (ten A(H9N2) cases). Most of the A(H5) human cases had reported exposure to poultry, live poultry markets, or dairy cattle prior to avian influenza virus detection or onset of illness.

The risk of infection with currently circulating avian A(H5) influenza viruses in Europe remains low for the general public. The risk of infection remains low-to-moderate for those occupationally or otherwise exposed to infected animals or contaminated environments.