Why are we on strike? Because agriculture is going to the bottom. The situation is dramatic and only quick joint actions can help.
- Why was fallowing invented? Isn’t it to make room for goods from Ukraine and to financially boost European agriculture?
- The cup of bitterness has come to an end – farmers across Europe cannot stand it
The whole of Europe is on strike – it is already the Spring of Nations that people want to ignore
The warning strike is just the beginning. At least it seems so, because our protests on January 24 were ignored by the national media, and politicians basically showed no initiative (or there was almost no reaction). Meanwhile, there has not been such a powerful uprising in the country for a dozen or so years (or maybe even more). And not only in the country, because the essence of the crisis is shown by dramatic events across the continent.
A similar thing happens in, among others, in Germany, France, Scotland, Belgium. Austria and Switzerland are on strike, tractors have taken to the streets in Lithuania. This shows the enormous senselessness of the EU agricultural policy, which is no longer leading farms to a dead end, but will soon lead to bankruptcy. And the farmer’s bankruptcy will also result in a financial meltdown in other industries, and there is no discussion here – without strong agriculture, the Polish economy, and the European economy more broadly, will be very weak and dependent on strong players from Asia and beyond. Why is there a desire to remain silent on this topic? Let everyone answer for themselves.
In a moment, regulations will prohibit us from using 4% of the house…
On the X portal (formerly Twitter), user Oleg broke down this situation (below is a video in which user Oleg clearly explains why we are on strike).
As the author of the film says – PLN 6,000 outlay per hectare, wheat yield of 7 t/ha and we have a ready addition of PLN 240 for each hectare. And in the example given in the video, it is a loss of PLN 24,000 for 100 ha.
The author gave an example wheat price of PLN 820/t. And yet we know that locally it is even cheaper. So it could be even worse. What’s more – in Polish conditions, an example yield of 7 t/ha is not so obvious.
The expenditure per hectare of PLN 6,000 is currently very realistic. We are reaching such a strange place that if someone wants to produce a good quality product, you have to do everything to make their life miserable, so that it is not profitable for them. And we, farmers, cannot dictate prices. We have no influence on the margin.
As the author of the film recalls:
Can you imagine that someone enters your house and, ladies and gentlemen, rules in your cottage and says, for example, that he will not use this part of the room in that room because the European Union has made up his mind about it?
Spot on! We cannot work on our property because this is a requirement. And this fallow requirement has no logical explanation (apart from making space for Ukraine’s grain?).
Why are we on strike?
Why are we on strike? Because grain imports from Ukraine are already killing Polish agriculture. Because excessively pro-ecological and at the same time – as many farmers say – hypocritical policy, leads to a collapse in agriculture.
Because payouts are 100 percent higher in just a decade, and wheat prices have all but remained stagnant. Because the purchasing power of farmers’ goods has dropped to absurd amounts.
Anyone who does not run a farm should imagine that, given current costs, they earn the same or only slightly more than they did 10 years ago. So the lowest national salary is – let’s say – about PLN 1,900 gross, and the average salary is PLN 4,000 gross. Where’s the logic here? The lowest wage in the national economy is higher than the average wage in 2015 – it has been constantly increasing for a decade, and farmers’ goods have lost value during this time. And even if someone says that in 2022 wheat reached record prices, it must be recalled that the costs were also record-breaking, because ammonium nitrate cost up to PLN 5,000 – 6,000/t.
As user Oleg also mentioned on the X portal – savings are running out, there will be nothing left to produce if the situation does not change.
Below we have prepared a table that shows changes in minimum wages (and average wages), as well as the equivalent of these amounts expressed in wheat (October/November prices).
First the goods from Ukraine, then the rest…
Does Ukraine have priority over Poles? Observing national and EU policy, it is impossible to get the impression that our economy is treated as less important. This applies to the entire European Union. Isn’t the fallowing to make room for goods from Ukraine? Isn’t it intended to make European farms financially worse and to strengthen agroholdings? Why produce in Europe when we can import cheap goods from across the eastern border? Why should consumers buy food produced according to high standards when they can import goods to European Union countries that do not have to meet such stringent quality standards? Finally, why should we produce in Europe?
And who owns the largest agroholdings in Ukraine? It’s no longer a secret. We know that international business benefits from this. I do not help Ukrainian farmers or ordinary citizens of this country. Aid goes to powerful businesses.
Is there anyone who would say that current EU policy makes any sense? And if so, at what point?
Failure to respond will mean silent consent, consent to the destruction of European agriculture. And maybe other industries soon? Because weak agriculture means a weak economy. Today, farmers come out and show that there is a huge problem. But unrealistic, detached from reality aspirations for climate neutrality are already hitting everyone’s pockets. The problem of farmers is the problem of the entire society.
