Styrian farmers sounded the alarm loudly on Monday: in addition to the erratic climate and failed harvests, there are enormous problems from the EU, price drops and cost explosions. What our farmers are currently struggling with.
1. Cost increases
According to the Chamber of Agriculture, costs in the field of construction, machines, equipment and maintenance have increased by 80 (!) percent compared to 2021. While prices are falling: by more than 60 percent for grain and by a third for wood. The hourly wage for suckler cow farmers is currently 5.40 euros.
2. The EU supports where there is no need
International companies use EU funding to build enormous industrial orchards in low-wage countries such as Albania and Serbia. Werner Brugner, Chamber Director: “Europe needs ten billion kilos of apples. With these newly created areas, production increases to twelve billion – there is an oversupply. An already tense situation is being made worse by the financing.”
3. Price pressure on the world market
Austria produces under strict conditions, which means that the products are sometimes more expensive than those from abroad, which care less about quality. The Chamber points out that we are being flooded with cheaper grain from Ukraine and Russia. Animal welfare is also more valued in Austria than elsewhere, but the market does not want to reward these services. The profit would remain elsewhere: the farmer would receive only 1.3 cents from a 33 cent sandwich.
4. Excessive bureaucracy
“We cannot simply write down that fertilizer has been used. We must document down to the minute when started, completed and processed – for every single recording. We have 400. That is my night job when my three children are asleep,” says pig farmer Elisa Neubauer.
5. Criticism from the population
Farmers also face many criticisms, for example that the continued maximization of profits and land is causing widespread extinction of birds and insects, and that biodiversity is just a buzzword.
Source: Krone
I’m Ben Stock, a journalist and author at Today Times Live. I specialize in economic news and have been working in the news industry for over five years. My experience spans from local journalism to international business reporting. In my career I’ve had the opportunity to interview some of the world’s leading economists and financial experts, giving me an insight into global trends that is unique among journalists.
