Summary of newsmakers of the previous day – 29.5.2008

Should we be afraid of meat products?

An assortment, a technology and risks of consumption of meat products are discussed. A history of meat processing to meat products (meat, meat products, tin-cans), an assortment and a quality of meat products and their development in the Czech Republic are introduced. The present assortment can be divided in products heat-treated and non-heat-treated. A thermo-pasteurization (heat treatment for 10 min. with achieving 70°C in the centre of products when inactivation of vegetative forms of microorganisms happens) or thermo-sterilization (121 °C, liquidation sporulating organisms and spores is used).

Opinion of Agrarian Chamber of events of German milk producers

In protest against low buy-out prices German milk producers stopped supplies in dairy works. Nor a chairman of the Milk Supplier Union (VDM) Romual Schaber knows how long their protests will last. Farmers fight now with growing costs for energies and feed; it showed itself in Germany in higher cost of milk producers. On Monday the 26th of May also German Minister of Agriculture Horst Seehofer supported milk suppliers. In his opinion the demand on increase in prices is justified. He repeated his support also at a following meeting of ministers of agriculture of the European Union in Slovenia.

Švejnar: CR could initiate reduction of subsidies during presidency

The Czech Republic could open a discussion during presidency in the EU in 2009 on a possibility to reduce agricultural subsidies. An economist and a former president candidate Jan Švejnar said it today at a seminar of Masaryk's Labour Academy (Masarykova dělnická akademie) in Prague devoted just to Czech leadership in the EU. Moreover, according to Švejnar it should not be in Czech period when this question would be solved. He thinks that Europe is now in a period when prices of agricultural products are extraordinarily high.

Land fund has already sold 17 000 ha of land for 615 mil. CZK this year

The Land Funds since this year's beginning sold land for 615 million crowns with the total acreage 17 000 hectares. It plans to sell about 50 000 hectares of land in total this year. A spokesman of the fund Michal Bureš said it to ČTK. Presently the fund manages about 360 000 hectares which from the most part it hires. By the end of 2012 he plans to sell approximately 250 000 hectares of land; the state will keep the rest as a reserve and to settlement of restitutions unresolved by that time. In time of establishment of the fund roughly 900 000 hectares of agricultural land fell in the administration.