Effect of the reform of the CAP on suckling cows farms in Central Charolais

Abstract

The reform of the CAP is concerned with the suckling cows herds in their three functions : meat and crop productions, and space utilization. We will offer a typology of situations patterned according to the modalities of the reform, which is drawn from the study of different farms. The adaptations made in 1992 and 1993 are presented, based on the study of 88 farms of Charolais cattle, compared with the situation in 1991, and they are resituated within the context of a long-term evolution. Breeders’ efforts were first focused, in 1992, on conforming to the individual quota of compensatory subsidies suckling cows, coupled with an increase in herd size. In 1993, the change in the use of land space in order to be eligible for the grassland and crop subsidies become the main concerns. Moreover while the reform affected the breeding of males only a little, the breeding of heifers (not subsidized) bose the main changes. These trends are likely to remain the same in 1995. But the main element in future development will depend on the flexibility of references in connection with possible surface increases.