In 2016, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released a report indicating that rates of suicides for farmers were 84.5 per 100,000, four times higher than the general population and ...higher than other high-risk groups, such as military veterans. Five months later, it was retracted due to a classification error. However, the report had already made national and global news, sparking a sense of urgency among policy makers, the media, and farm groups. Despite evidence that occupational stress in agriculture stems from structural sources, such as volatile economic conditions resulting from trade instability and unstable commodity prices, solutions to the problem of suicide among farmers tend to emphasize individualized actions, such as seeking counseling and mental health support. This paper examines recent media and policy initiatives as well as interactions among farm support agencies. We argue that despite evidence of structural challenges, the solutions proposed typically require individualized action by farmers. This response is consistent with agrarian ideologies that portray farmers as uniquely independent actors and absolves policy makers, lenders, and agribusinesses of culpability in promoting an agricultural industry that is responsible for high levels of occupational stress among its most critical participants.
The region of Tarnava Mare in Southern Transylvania contains extensive semi-natural open landscapes maintained by predominantly low-intensity farming, which is widespread in Romania and indeed many ...areas of Eastern Europe. Threats to these species-rich habitats from agricultural intensification and land abandonment have been increasing in recent years, to a large extent linked with Romania’s accession to the EU in 2007. At the same time, however, the opportunities for biodiversity conservation in the area have expanded. In 2008, the region became a Site of Community Importance (SCI) as part of the Natura 2000 network, and farmers have applied agri-environment schemes as part of the EU Common Agricultural Policy since 2006. Furthermore, the Tarnava Mare region has been the location of several EU and nationally funded projects combining research, practical and information measures. In this article, we review these various instruments from the practical perspective of an NGO that has been working since 2004 to support High Nature Value farmland and rural communities in this region. We focus on three major support measures - agri-environment schemes, Natura 2000, and publicly funded conservation projects - and consider their effects individually and collectively. We conclude that the presence of multiple instruments can have synergistic effects on the conservation of semi-natural open habitats such as HNV farmland, and that this overlap provides a certain amount of resilience: if one instrument fails, another may fill the gap. Cross-cutting projects combining research with activities to tackle the “problem” of the socio-economic undesirability of low-intensity farming as well as the “symptom” of the loss of HNV farmland are also particularly important in this context.
Na območju Tarnava Mare v južni Transilvaniji najdemo ekstenzivno polnaravno odprto krajino, ki se ohranja predvsem z nizko intenzivnim kmetijstvom, ki je splošno razširjeno v Romuniji in številnih drugih območjih v vzhodni Evropi. Ogroženost teh vrstno bogatih habitatov se v zadnjih letih povečuje zaradi intenziviranja kmetijstva in opuščanja obdelovanja kar je v veliki meri povezano z vstopom Romunije v EU leta 2007. Obenem pa so se na tem območju povečale možnosti za ohranjanje biodiverzitete. V letu 2008 je regija postala območje pomembno za skupnost (SCI) kot del omrežja Natura 2000 in kmetje so se vključili v kmetijsko- -okoljske sheme kot del skupne kmetijske politike EU od leta 2006. Dodatno so v regiji Tarnava Mare izvajali številne evropske in nacionalne projekte v kombinaciji z znanstvenimi raziskavami, praktičnimi ukrepi in osveščanjem. V članku predstavljamo različne praktične inštrumente z vidika NVO, ki podpira kmetijstvo z visoko vrednostjo narave (HNV) od leta 2004 in podeželsko skupnost v tej regiji. Osredotočili smo se na tri glavne podporne ukrepe - kmetijsko-okoljske sheme, Naturo 2000 in javno financirane naravovarstvene projekte in preučili njihove posamične in skupen učinek. Zaključimo lahko, da imajo lahko številni inštrumenti sinergistične učinke na varstvo pol naravnih odprtih habitatov, kot je na primer kmetijstvo z visoko vrednostjo narave (HNV). To prekrivanje ukrepov zagotavlja določeno odpornost, saj če en inštrument ni uspešen, ga lahko nadomesti drugi. Interdisciplinarni projekti, ki združujejo raziskave z dejavnostmi, ki rešujejo probleme socio-ekonomske nezaželenosti kmetovanja z nizko intenzivnostjo in zmanjševanja kmetovanja z z visoko vrednostjo narave (HNV) so še posebej pomembni v tem okviru.
Within this research paper, the enforcement of agricultural policy measures for farms that have their agricultural lands within the Radensko Polje Landscape Park (RPLP) were studied. The purpose of ...the study was to evaluate the effectiveness of the additional payment for the extensive rearing of female bovine animals (ERB) and agrienvironmental measures (AE measures) in terms of maintaining extensive agricultural systems or transitions from intensive systems to sustainable ones. This is especially desirable in the protected areas that also include landscape parks. The results of the survey of farmers of RPLP showed that both the ERB and AE measures are inefficient and fail to encourage farmers to implement more extensive farming. The main reasons for the poor enforcement of claims for ERB are intensive livestock production (milk production or bovine animals fattening), and the lack of information about the possibility of claim enforcement for ERB. Regarding AE measures, the main reasons for the failure are burdensome conditions and low financial compensation. Inventories of the composition of plant species on sample grasslands showed that the conditions of the habitats are still relatively good, because a relatively large number of species of high conservation value is present.
Čeprav je identifikacijski sistem za zemljišča v Sloveniji star šele nekaj let, je doživel že kar nekaj pomembnih sprememb. Sprva so bili uporabljeni atributni podatki zemljiškega katastra, nato kot ...grafična podlaga podatki zemljiškokatastrskega prikaza, vendar takšna rešitev ni ustrezala visokim zahtevam po kakovosti prostorskih podatkov. Treba je bilo začeti znova in na podlagi državnih ortofoto načrtov so bila ponovno zajeta vsa kmetijska zemljišča posameznih kmetijskih gospodarstev. Do danes je sistem, ki ga v Sloveniji predstavljajo grafične enote rabe kmetijskih zemljišč, ali krajše GERK, prerasel v sistem, ki se navezuje na ali informativno uporablja obsežno zbirko prostorskih podatkov in vključuje registre trajnih nasadov. Ti prostorski podatki se uporabljajo za zagotavljanje zahtevane kakovosti v postopkih vzdrževanja in rednih postopkih administrativnih kontrol v okviru kmetijske politike. Del podatkov je vsako leto preverjen na kraju samem. Proaktivno zagotavljanje kakovosti in stalna kontrola sta najpomembnejši nalogi. Cilj je učinkovitejši sistem in torej zmanjšano tveganje pri dodeljevanju javnih sredstev upravičencem pomoči v kmetijstvu. Še dodaten korak naprej je naredila Španija, kjer je sodelovanje med zemljiškim katastrom in SIGPAC v duhu direktive INSPIRE primer dobre prakse, ki bi lahko postala model tudi za druge države članice ; Although the land parcel identification system in Slovenia was established only few years ago, it has already had been changed many times. At first, an alphanumeric land cadastre data was used, then (as a graphical basis) a digital cadastral index map was introduced; however, such solutions did not meet the high quality requirements of spatial data. It had to be started again and all agricultural parcels of individual agricultural holdings were defined on the basis of digitised orthophotos. At present, the system that is represented with graphical units of agricultural parcels (GERK) has grown into a system related to or using a broad collection of spatial data, including registers of permanent crops. This spatial data is used for the assurance of the required quality in procedures of maintenance and in regular procedures of administrative controls in the framework of agricultural policy. Every year, a part of the data is checked on the field. Proactive quality assurance and continuous control are the highest priority tasks. The objective is a more efficient system and a consequent reduction of risk in the distribution of public funds to the entitled farmers. Another step forward was made in Spain, where cooperation between land cadastre and SIGPAC in the frame of the INSPIRE directive is an example of good practise, which could become a model for the other Member States.
Kmetijstvo je v nekdanjih agrarnih družbah pomembno vplivalo na gospodarsko in družbeno življenje na podeželju. S pojavom industrializacije se je začel vpliv zmanjševati, kar je povzročilo splošno ...zaostajanje podeželja. To je postopno vodilo do oblikovanja politik in programov za pospešen razvoj podeželskih območij po načelu celovitosti in v teh konceptih je dobilo kmetijstvo nov, razširjen pomen: poleg gospodarske funkcije so mu začeli pripisovati tudi prostorskoposelitveno, ekološko, socialno in kulturno funkcijo. Zaradi takšne večnamenskosti so se pojavile težnje po enakovredni integraciji kmetijstva v vsak razvojni načrt podeželja na lokalni, regionalni in državni ravni. V prispevku je s časovnim okvirom – od druge svetovne vojne do začetka proračunskega obdobja Evropske unije 2007–2013 – predstavljen potek krepitve zavesti o večnamenskosti kmetijstva in njegovi vlogi v razvoju podeželja v zahodnoevropskih državah na eni strani in v Sloveniji na drugi. Slovenski kmetijski politiki je posvečene največ pozornosti od osamosvojitve leta 1991 do priključitve Evropski uniji leta 2004.
Češka republika in Slovenija sta že štiri leta članici Evropske zveze, kar med drugim tudi pomeni, da sta prevzeli evropski pravni red in se prilagodili skupni kmetijski politiki (SKP), ki je v obeh ...državah prinesla številne spremembe kmetijskega sektorja. Izpostavljeni so izbrani ukrepi SKP, njihova vzpostavitev in razlike med državama, za boljšo pojasnitev je bila v raziskavo vključena študija dveh primerov v Sloveniji in na Češkem.
V prispevku je analiziran pomen politike razvoja podeželja v glavnih strateških dokumentih in izvedbenih ukrepih kmetijske politike. Kvalitativna analiza Nacionalnega strateškega načrta za programsko ...obdobje 2007 - 2013, ki zajema raven usklajenosti politike z razvojnimi potrebami in cilji, predstavlja okvir za kritično oceno sprejemljivosti posameznih ukrepov. Obseg in struktura finančnih sredstev, ki jih za različne spodbude namenja država, kažeta na izrazito povečan gospodarski, socialni in okoljski pomen razvoja slovenskega podeželja.
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