When European Institutions Sacrifice Farmers for Corporate Profit

A wave of farmer protests has spread across Europe since January 2024. In several countries, including France, Belgium, Greece, Italy, Spain, Poland, Germany, and the Netherlands, farmers have mobilized through demonstrations and roadblocks to protest unfair competition, tax burdens, excessive regulation, and an overall lack of recognition and support. One example of the difficulties faced by farmers – one that many protestors point to – is the dumping of cheap Ukrainian chicken into Europe.

The company behind the majority of these imports is Myronivsky Hliboproduct (MHP), the largest industrial poultry producer in Europe. MHP processes a whopping 13.4 million birds weekly for over 700,000 tons of poultry meat per year. The firm operates as a vertically-integrated operation, controlling all aspects of the production chain – from fodder, to eggs, to chickens, to meat distribution. It controls over 360,000 hectares of land, making it one of the largest landholders in Ukraine. Its access to such a large swath of land and less stringent production standards than in the European Union (EU) allows the firm to enjoy lower production costs than many farmers across Europe. But these factors alone do not explain MHP’s swift business expansion and capture of the European market.

Read the full article from the Oakland Institute here.