The state offers NOK 2.62 billion in the agricultural settlement – far below the farmers’ demands – E24

The state offers NOK 2.62 billion in the agricultural settlement, corresponding to an increase in income of around NOK 70,000 per man-year. The farmers demand 3.9 billion.

The state submitted its offer on Monday, ten days after the farmers made their demand. The offer is significantly below the demand from agriculture and only fulfills around two-thirds of what the farmers believe they must have in this year’s settlement.

– The state is today delivering a good offer that follows up on the Storting report on increased self-sufficiency and income escalation. The offer shows that the escalation plan is being followed and it is planned to close a third of the income gap already in this year’s offer, says the state’s head of negotiations Viil Søyland in a press release.

The offer suggests that a third of the income gap between agriculture and other groups can be closed already this year. The increase in income offered by the state is around NOK 70,000 per man-year, as well as a reduction in the income gap by NOK 45,000 per man-year.

The farmers dissatisfied

In comparison, the farmers submitted a claim a week and a half ago in which they demand a total of NOK 3.9 billion. This should amount to a total increase in income of almost 83,000 wives per man-year. Of this, just under NOK 76,000 should contribute to making up much of the backlog for other occupational groups.

– Many farmers are in a demanding economic situation. Therefore, it is necessary that the income gap be closed more quickly than what the government proposes in the offer. If we are to achieve the goals of increased self-sufficiency, the farmer’s income must go up, says Bjørn Gimming, agriculture’s negotiating leader and leader of the Norwegian Farmers’ Association, after receiving the state’s offer.

He believes the state assumes a lower cost growth than agriculture has calculated in its claim. Therefore, the state’s offer appears better than what we believe is the basis for it.

– The offer does not respond to the Storting’s recent marching order on increased self-sufficiency, he says.

At the press conference where the offer was presented, Gimming also said several times that the state’s offer does not take the farmers’ situation seriously.

Red butcher

The right-winger’s Lene Westgaard-Halle is measuredly positive about the state’s offer, although she notes that the state places a high value on itself.

– The most important thing for the Conservative Party is that this settlement sets the stage for a clear modernization of agricultural policy, with a much stronger focus on plant-based production to raise the level of self-sufficiency and reduce emissions, she says.

For his part, Rødt’s agricultural policy spokesperson Geir Jørgensen calls the state’s offer a shameful offer.

– Agriculture came up with a reasonable and modest demand, yet the government shows no willingness to meet them. In the world situation we are in, we must ensure that we ourselves produce all the food we can, he says.

Jørgensen calls the state’s offer “a failure of the state’s responsibility towards the population.”

Will limit price growth

The government has placed great emphasis on limiting the agreement’s impact on food prices. In addition to financing the offer with an increased allocation in the state budget of just over NOK 1.9 billion, the state is proposing an increase in the agricultural agreement’s target prices within a framework of NOK 526 million.

The total increase in prices is estimated at 2.4 per cent. This is lower than expected price growth elsewhere in society.

– Viewed in isolation, the proposal will result in an increase in food expenditure of NOK 350 per year for an average household, writes the Ministry of Agriculture and Food in the press release.

The deadline for reaching an agreement in the agricultural negotiations is 16 May.