Still own food production in Norway?
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As a farmer, a member of the Farmers’ Association and leader of the Hustadvika Center Party, it almost feels like I am sitting on both sides of the negotiating table during the agricultural negotiations this year.
I therefore want to make it easier for the parties in the agricultural negotiations to come up with some good advice! What is needed for food production in Norway is at least NOK 9 billion on the table!
How I came to that speech I will share with you a little further down.
We are in a demanding time, two years with the corona and now war in the middle of the dish in Europe. This has made it visible how important our own food production with clean food and our own food preparedness and soil protection is with all of us.
Food security for one’s own people is a social responsibility and not the farmer’s responsibility. The government has promised to close the income gap among farmers in relation to other groups in society.
Never has there been a greater chance of success for the government in delivering what it has promised than now! Nevertheless, there is frustration, great uncertainty and anger among Norwegian farmers.
The government has a communication problem with some honorable exceptions.
The farmers do not have time to wait for an answer until after the spring. The signal from the government is not very specific, and the farmer wonders if it is worth buying artificial fertilizer and sowing food grains this year.
The price of fertilizer has now almost tripled from last year. The diesel price has soon doubled. The concentrate is at full speed up in price. The only thing that does not rise is the prices we farmers get for our products!
In the Hurdal platform, the government says, among other things, that it will:
Present a non-binding and time-bound plan to close the income gap between agriculture and other groups in society. The escalation will take place in collaboration with the parties to the agricultural agreement and will be based on a new numerical basis.
Great words that commit! I both governing parties have the same understanding of the crisis agriculture is in!
I am aware that it will be negotiated in the agricultural settlement, that we farmers are self-employed, but we are “caught” by target prices and can not get more income on price until after the agricultural negotiations and it does not apply until 2023. Then it is unfortunately too late . .
That’s why extraordinary support to cover the cost week is so important to communicate now!
My production is milk production with almost 400 tonnes in milk quota 2.4 man-years Price week last year:
Fertilizers: 25 tonnes from NOK 80,000 to NOK 265,500.
Diesel: From NOK 70,000 to NOK 120,000 per year.
Concentrated feed: 140 tonnes has increased by 49 øre kg so far, amounting to NOK 68,500.
Total: NOK 304,000 in cost week last year.
This is only on fertilizers, diesel and concentrates. I got a chin drop when I saw the speech.
The extra cost compensation I was paid now in February amounted to approximately NOK 50,000.
If we are to start closing the income gap, NOK 100,000 must be put on the table per man-year this year, in order to have a good foundation for laying stone upon stone. Or crown on crown.
That means about 4 billion kroner on the table.
Cover expected pay week next year:
20-25,000 / man-year about 1 billion.
Cover Extraordinary cost week:
In my use, there will be about 100,000 per man-year, which amounts to 4 billion. Then talk to me about 9 billion in total!
We like to talk about having an agriculture throughout the country. We have pure food production with little use of pesticides. We use the least antibiotics for the animals in the world, which actually saves us many lives. We have the best genes in our pig and cow.
We must be the best at animal welfare. We have a lot to be proud of and a lot to lose.
Now we have to think a little about the welfare and finances of the farmer! Otherwise we no longer have our own food production in our country!