The cereal producers of the province of Huelva have warned that, if before starting the next campaign "effective measures are not adopted to cover the unsustainable increase in production costs, many farms will not plant cereal this year," emphasizing that "this is not a threat or an opportunistic decision, but the inevitable consequence of a critical economic situation."
Asaja-Huelva has explained in a statement that the average production costs "are already around 900 euros per hectare," while cereal prices "continue to be below costs." Thus, "with current prices, a farmer needs to obtain more than 4,600 kilos per hectare just to avoid losing money, an unattainable yield in much of the drylands of the province."
The agricultural organization has stressed that the rise in fuel prices "has further aggravated the problem," recalling that at the same time last year "the liter of agricultural diesel was approximately 0.92 euros, while currently it reaches 1.47 euros."
"Farmers cannot continue planting to lose money. If producing cereal costs more than what we obtain from selling it, stopping planting is the only way to prevent our farms from collapsing definitively," warned Gabriel Villegas, representative of the sector on the Board of Directors of Asaja-Huelva.
The entity has added that "the accumulated losses from cereal are dragging down the entire farm and compromising the viability of agricultural businesses that generate employment, maintain economic activity in rural municipalities, and are essential for food production."
"OPACITY AND POSSIBLE SPECULATION WITH FERTILIZERS"
At the same time, Asaja-Huelva has focused on "the serious situation" of the fertilizer market. According to details, farmers and buying groups are facing "serious difficulties in obtaining fixed prices from certain supplier companies while prices continue to rise."
"This lack of transparency prevents planning the sowing, preparing reliable budgets, and deciding with a minimum of certainty if a new campaign can be faced," they have asserted. Therefore, the sector demands that the competition authorities and agricultural administrations act urgently to investigate "if behind this situation there are speculative practices, withholding of supply, or movements aimed at provoking new artificial increases."
In this line, they have emphasized that "it is unacceptable for an essential input for food production to be subjected to commercial opacity while thousands of farmers have to decide, in a matter of weeks, if they can afford to sow again."
DIRECT AID BEFORE SOWING
The cereal producers from Huelva demand from the Junta de Andalucía and the central government an extraordinary direct aid per hectare of cereal, with additional financing and payment in advance or coinciding with the start of the sowing, given that "the advances of the CAP are not useful nor are new loans that only increase the indebtedness of operations that are already working without margin."
Alongside this, the sector also demands "direct measures" that alleviate the cost of agricultural diesel and facilitate access to credit under reasonable conditions. They insist that these actions "must be complementary and cannot replace direct aid," because "increasing the available credit does not solve the lack of profitability, but can postpone the problem at the cost of increasing farmers' debt."
A CAP ADAPTED TO THE REALITY OF CEREAL
Cereal producers also demand to review the progressive reduction of aid starting from 50 hectares, considering that "it completely ignores the economic reality of dryland cereal," where it is often necessary to exceed 100 hectares to "reach a minimally profitable dimension."
"However, currently, the measures incomprehensibly benefit small producers, who have no sense in cereals. Agricultural policies must prioritize support for the professional and active farmer, that is, for those who work in the field, assume the economic risk of each campaign, and obtain an essential part of their income from the exploitation. If the aim is to professionalize the sector, promote generational change, and guarantee its future, administrations cannot apply the same consideration to those who depend on agriculture to live as to those who maintain an exploitation as a complementary activity after retiring," they have pointed out.
FISCAL REDUCTION AND FOOD CHAIN LAW
On the other hand, the cereal collective of Huelva requests a reduction in the modules of cereals in the objective estimation regime of the IRPF. They argue that "taxation must reflect the real collapse of profitability suffered during the campaign and not be calculated as if the exploitations had obtained profits that simply do not exist."
Likewise, they consider it "essential" that the Food Chain Law be effectively applied. They demand that administrations "must act ex officio, strengthen inspections, and prevent cereals from continuing to be marketed below their effective production costs."
The sector also demands that the reference prices and yields of agricultural insurance be reviewed "to reflect the real production costs," since, under current conditions, many policies "do not offer sufficient coverage nor guarantee compensations capable of offsetting the losses suffered by the exploitations."
"THE LACK OF SOWING CANNOT IMPLY NEW PENALTIES"
Asaja-Huelva insists that, "if the absence of profitability makes it impossible to sow," administrations "must establish an exception in the CAP that avoids penalizing those who are forced to leave the land uncultivated." They remind that "it would not be a voluntary decision, but the direct consequence of unmanageable costs, ruinous prices, and the lack of effective measures."
They warn that "it would be unacceptable for the farmer to first suffer losses derived from the market and then be administratively punished for not being able to face a new campaign. The regulations must adapt to an exceptional situation that threatens to leave thousands of hectares unsown. A decision with consequences for the entire province."
They also alert that the disappearance of cereal "puts cooperatives, agricultural service companies, transporters, workshops, machinery suppliers, rural employment, and economic activity in numerous municipalities of the province at risk" and "would increase the external dependence on essential raw materials for human and livestock food."
"We want to sow and produce, but we cannot do it at any price. We do not ask for aid to artificially maintain an unviable crop; we demand fair conditions to work and compete. If the administrations allow us to sell below costs while diesel and fertilizers soar, they will be responsible for thousands of hectares being left unsown," Villegas emphasized.