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

On Friday, a collective 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’ Association requires several investments that we believe are absolutely necessary to ensure and develop ongoing Norwegian food production throughout the country, says county leader of the Nordland Farmers’ Association, Sofie Jutunen Jenssen in a press release.

Increased self-sufficiency – part of total defence

It is a more demanding worldview, and Norway must increase its 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, she says in the press release.

Among other things, Nordland Bondelag has recorded the prioritization of milk, focus on forage-based production, 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.

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 failures.