Agriculture’s demands: Increased self-sufficiency with increased income

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We will not get increased self-sufficiency without the farmer earning more, and today (26.04.24) a united agriculture submitted its demands to the state in this year’s agricultural negotiations.

Norwegian farmers experience tough economic everyday life, and many are in doubt as to whether they want to continue or invest in the industry. The Norwegian Farmers’ Union demands several investments which we believe are absolutely necessary to ensure and develop ongoing Norwegian food production throughout the country.

Increased self-sufficiency – part of total defence

We have a more demanding world view, and Norway must increase self-sufficiency to at least 50 per cent.

– Nordlandsbonden is ready to stand up for food preparedness, but it must be accompanied by funds to increase production. We can’t just turn on and off a switch for food production, the work of producing food must provide an income that you can live on and the possibility of production in the future, says Jenssen

Despite significant increases in budget transfers over the past two years, farmers’ income still lags behind other groups. It is therefore crucial to restore faith in the future, that a significant part of the calculated income gap is closed at this year’s agricultural settlement. Milk production is the mainstay of agriculture, and the situation has been tough for dairy farmers in recent years.

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We at Nordland Bondelag have, among other things, recorded prioritization of milk, focus on forage-based productions, vegetables/potatoes, climate/drainage and welfare schemes for this year’s negotiations. It is good to see that we find this again in the requirement

Being a farmer entails a large round-the-clock responsibility for animals and crops, and requires security around the operating system. – Farmers who are expecting children or fall ill need welfare schemes like others, Jenssen concludes

Facts about the framework in this year’s requirements:

• The requirement is delivered by the Norwegian Farmers’ Association and the Norwegian Farmers’ and Small Farmers’ Association on behalf of the whole of agriculture.
• The claim is NOK 3.9 billion. 1.4 billion of these will cover increased costs. 0.8 billion is needed for farmers to have the same income development as other groups (NOK 25,600), and almost 1.9 billion goes to closing a significant part of the income gap between farmers and other groups. NOK 270 million can be withdrawn from the market for products without a target price in 2025. This corresponds to an increase of 1.3 per cent.
• For goods with a target price, the prices will increase by NOK 1 billion from 1 July this year. This applies to food grains, potatoes, 10 vegetables, apples and milk.
• The subsidies are required to be increased by NOK 2.7 billion.
• The requirement closes more than half of the income gap between farmers and other groups. For the average farmer, this means NOK 75,900 per family-year worked according to the calculation method given in St. meld. 11 (2023-2024). One then subtracts from a provision for depreciable capital and adds a normalization factor of 20 per cent. The calculated remaining income gap in 2025 will then be NOK 60,000 per family man-year.

Here are the main steps in agriculture’s requirements:

• A significant boost in the level of income in agriculture. More than half of the income gap for other groups is closed in this year’s settlement
• Increased self-sufficiency Better preparedness of agricultural products in Norway to ensure that the degree of self-sufficiency is increased from the current level up to 50 percent
• Reduce the risk for each individual farmer through better welfare schemes, environmental and climate measures which to a greater extent enable agriculture to handle more unstable weather, including through funds for increased investment in drainage
• Increased focus on varietal development of goods that are suitable for Norwegian growing conditions.
• milk out of the target price system from 1 July 2024 and replace it with a volume model. The change must provide predictability for the farmer and continued cooperative-based market regulation

Improvements and extensions of the risk-reducing schemes for agriculture in the form of compensation for animal diseases, ringworm vaccination and production failure.

Hanne Sofie Juntunen Jenssen,
county leader Nordland Bondelag