The Unió de Pagesos union demands urgently measures to deal with rising production costs. The national coordinator, Joan Caball, has warned that if people don’t leave, “they will end up folding”. They want a reduced VAT for all the goods and services they need to produce, help to meet the obligations of the fertilization decree or for the “excessive” bureaucracy to be removed. Another issue that worries them is the lack of relief. According to figures from the Department, in 2022, only 212 farmers joined the agricultural activitywhile in 2021 there were 279. Caball made these statements in the context of the National Assembly of the union that is being held in Vic to mark the lines of work for 2023.
Apart from the priority of focusing the fight against the increase in production costs for this 2023, the proposal of the Work Plan of the union is committed to continue working for a “fair”, “transparent” and “equitable” market in the food chain. In addition, they also claim the importance of farming for the country, with food as a fundamental pillar of society and where agriculture and livestock are “indispensable”.
“A Catalonia without farmers”
Oriol Rovira is a young farmer who is currently coordinator of the Union of Farmers in Osona. He regrets that all the problems they are fighting against mean that young people do not see “attractiveness” to dedicate themselves to farming. “This can take us towards a Catalonia without farmers”, has warned. “Although there will always be farmers, everything will be in the hands of large companies and not of small producers as before”, he clarified.
Rovira has been concerned because the trend is to go towards a world “in which big companies will dominate the food sector”. “I am worried as a producer if tomorrow I can retire as a farmer, but who should be more worried is the society that in a few years will not be able to choose what it will eat: there is this and if you don’t go away “, he warned, appealing to consumer awareness.
The Farmers’ Union Work Plan also seeks power ensure that the application of the Common Agricultural Policy benefits the peasantry and not the speculators. Another of the key issues to work on will be the need for efficient management of wildlife that causes ever increasing damage. In fact, in the last year, Joan Caball recalled that a third of the accidents were due to accidents with wildlife, such as wild boars or roe deer. “There is no end to solve the problem”, he lamented.
The protection of agricultural land, adaptation to climate change and obtaining “useful” agricultural insurance are other claims that form part of the union’s roadmap.