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This paper seeks to interpret the demands and forms of organization of the big farmer union protests through an analysis of agricultural policy. Here, it is assumed that the current crisis in relations between farmers and the government is not fortuitous, but it is rather related to the way in which agricultural policy has been implemented since Greece joined the European Union. Therefore, this study focuses on two issues. The first refers to the relationship between farmers and the state following the construction of an all-powerful system of state corporatism, via the ‘pro-agricultural’ policy adopted from 1981 until 1989. This system went through a crisis between 1993 and 1996, when application of the ‘pro-agricultural’ policy became increasingly difficult. The second part of this paper, attempts to approach the ideological content of the ‘pro-agricultural’ policy, an issue closely linked with the populist phenomenon which dominated Greece after 1981 and began to lose ground in 1993. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]