IF YOU were to use the European parliament as a guide, the only group of farmers facing tough times in Europe must be dairy farmers.

This week, the parliament's budget committee sought to exercise its muscle, by pressing the European Commission to make another €100 million available to help the "crisis in the dairy sector". This is, however, more about politics than seeking to deliver anything meaningful for farmers – and it is unfortunate that the focus remains on the dairy sector to the exclusion of the rest of the industry.

Over the past year or so, the European Commission has delivered two packages for the dairy industry. Now this group of MEPs wants to see an additional €100 million included in the 2017 CAP budget. They do not appear to have any idea about how this might be used – or more importantly what impact it could have when spread across 28 member states.

The first package from the Commission, back in September 2015, was justified, and may even have had a positive impact. The most recent one, which included the supply reduction programme, was more marginal in terms of impact.

This is impossible to calculate, as with or without the package, dairy markets were improving in the EU and globally. Supply and demand are moving back into balance, but not because of anything the European Commission has done.

It is perhaps churlish to criticise pressure to secure aid for dairy farmers. Their position has indeed been bleak, and is still a long way from where it needs to be. However it was political pressure that secured the second package from the European Commission, and farm commissioner, Phil Hogan, has as much as admitted that.

Dairy prices are now moving in the right direction, and it seems highly unlikely that pressure from MEPs will deliver another aid package. There is a case for action to tackle volatility, which remains a big problem even in a slowly improving market. There is however no compelling case for throwing more money at the problem, since it will not make it go away.

This political focus on the problems of the dairy sector has meant that other problems have been pushed into the background. Other sectors have, to some degree, been helped by the improvement in export markets, but dairy farmers are not alone in facing problems. The export market to Russia is still closed for a range of products, including pigmeat.

There has been a reduction in sow numbers to balance production, and the fact that this has worked with minimal market intervention is proof that the CAP often gets in the way of the market.

Grain farmers are also facing difficult times. Much of Europe has seen a poor harvest, because of wet conditions in the spring. The problem is that this coincided with a bumper harvest elsewhere in the world. Grain production is well up in north and south America and Australia; with a record harvest Russia is grabbing markets once held by the EU and is on course, for the first time, to be the world's biggest wheat exporter.

World stocks are also high, which will act against a price recovery.

All that adds up to poor prices and poor yields, which is a toxic combination, yet there is little sympathy from politicians for the plight of arable farmers. They also have the added frustration of being saddled with greening until the UK leaves the EU – and perhaps even then it will continue to appease green lobby groups.

This all makes it strange that MEPs on the budget committee, presumably seeking political kudos back in their respective member states, should seek funding for another dairy package. There is certainly a case for putting more funding into agriculture. But it needs to be directed to areas that will help the entire industry, such as more radical ways to tackle volatility and a dysfunctional food supply chain.

It is however easier for politicians to thump the table and demand special treatment for the group making the most headlines. That has however achieved little to date, as no aid package will ever solve a crisis. One lesson of the past year is that a small aid package for the dairy sector did much to stir up dissent between different sectors of agriculture, and in the long term that damages rather than helps the farming industry.