ONTARIO GRAIN FARMER INDUSTRY NEWS 28 which would save time and money,” he says. He already uses BASF’s Clearfield rapeseed varieties on fields with tough weed pressure, allowing for single-pass weed control. Brzozowski’s brother, Marek, runs a 220-hectare grain farm that also adopted livestock—in his case, 6,500 pigs. Maciej supports him by supplying the grain. “He uses both wet and dry feed to lower costs,” Brzozowski explains. “But pig prices are very low right now.” The challenges Brzozowski’s brother faces are reflected across the country, where the national pig population has dropped more than 22 per cent since 2020 and many small producers have exited the industry. continued from page 27 POULTRY POWERS PROFIT Poultry prices, on the other hand, have been more stable. Brzozowski supplies local slaughterhouses, and four of his six poultry facilities meet strict export standards, enabling him to sell meat to McDonald’s. But disease pressure is a constant concern. “We’re lucky there aren’t many poultry farms nearby,” he says. “Just one infected bird in the region can shut things down.” Brzozowski is part of a thriving sector. Since 2014, Poland has led the EU in poultry production, supplying more than 20 per cent of total EU output. Over half of its 3–3.2 million tonnes of poultry meat is exported, mainly to EU neighbours, as well as to the United Kingdom, Vietnam, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. That export potential makes on-farm feed use a smart strategy for grain producers like Brzozowski. With roughly 25 million tonnes of grain consumed domestically each year—much of it for feed—cereal growers who integrate livestock can create a reliable outlet for their crops even when commodity prices falter. FARMERS WAIT AS BRUSSELS MAPS THE FUTURE OF FOOD. As Poland’s EU presidency puts food security front and centre, efforts are underway to address the very pressures farmers like Brzozowski face. “The Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) should remain one of the main sources of support to the farmers,” says Robert Piłat, deputy director at Poland’s Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development. “It should be resilient to crisis and also tackle the coming challenges regarding the market situation, war, and climate change.” The European Commission’s Vision for Agriculture and Food, unveiled in February 2025, mirrors this sentiment. It proposes a “fairer, simpler, and more targeted” CAP, outlining support for fairer market returns, streamlined regulation, and stronger crisis tools, such as a Unity Safety Net for producers, which aims to protect producers from economic coercion. The Vision also promises to reduce critical dependencies through diversified trade and a new livestock policy roadmap. That’s welcome news in Poland, where farmers remain uneasy about the future. “Farmers in Poland are afraid that [the EU-Southern Common Market (Mercosur) deal, which includes Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay, and Uruguay] will add to the already worsening conditions for their businesses...as though agriculture is being sacrificed for other sectors of the economy,” says Piłat. The Commission’s plan aims to restore trust across the food chain by anchoring agriculture as a strategic sector and reconnecting it to fair living conditions in rural areas. For Brzozowski and others like him, the hope is that this renewed focus will translate into tangible support on the ground, rather than leading to another round of red tape. • “Poland harvests 34–35 million tonnes of cereals annually, of which wheat accounts for approximately 12–13 million tonnes. Much of the cereal produced in Poland goes toward sustaining its poultry and pig sectors.
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