Last week GrainGrowers attended the International Oilseed Producers Dialogue (IOPD) in Wismar, Germany, alongside the Australian Oilseeds Federation (AOF). Since 1998, the annual IOPD meetings have been an important institution in the global exchange and strengthen the dialogue among producers from different regions of the world.
This was the 26th meeting of the IOPD and saw representatives from the USA, Canada, Brazil, Paraguay, Australia, France and Germany come together to share views on both challenges and opportunities. This heavily focused on the international policy and regulatory environment and its impact on oilseed production and market access.
Key topics of this year's IOPD included the future of the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) for European farmers, potential trade barriers for exports to the European Union (EU), approaches to achieving renewable energy targets in transportation and the challenges of plant breeding in Europe. Additionally, attendees presented on the prospects of oilseed production and trade in their respective countries.
Discussions at the IOPD also focused on recent developments in agricultural and biofuel policies, which have significant impacts on future production and trade routes. With sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) and biofuels squarely on the political and industry agenda in Australia, it was important to discuss these issues with other oilseed producing nations. Attendees considered the challenges in addressing growing global demand for food, feed, and fuels and how this can be ensured in the future. Both sustainability and food security considerations increase in a world that seems more and more uncertain so the need for international collaboration increases.
With recent EU elections and ongoing reform to the CAP, EU policy was in the spotlight. There were also lengthy discussions about the looming implementation of the EU Deforestation Regulation (EUDR). This was discussed mostly in the context of soy production, as this policy does not include canola.
From an Australian perspective it was an opportunity to discuss grower challenges with other countries. While there are so many regional specifics, most farmers are faced with similar challenges – reduced margins, increased input costs, reduced access to vital crop protection products and so on. This was particularly the case for EU farmers that can no longer access key tools to enable ‘best-practice’ farming.