Macro-farms and the agricultural future
Macro-farms are currently a symbol of tension, not only between those affected and their minister; in society there are opposing and debatable positions, regardless of the level and even within families.
By Mario Gómez, international consultant, fruit and vegetable grower and logistics expert in Germany
The problems are obvious, as the new German Minister of Agriculture, Cem Özdemir, says, citing the example of meat: “A kilo of minced meat costs 3.98 euros: this can not be the result of happy animals. Farming family can not live on that; it ruins the production companies, prevents better animal welfare, leads to the extinction of species and worsens the climate.
Their declared mission is clear: to raise the prices of meat (possibly by introducing statutory minimum prices) and fruit and vegetable products (by changing the DUN system, possibly by making the requirements of “green” criteria more stringent), as well as to achieve a higher margin in the value chain. Of course, it remains to be seen whether this value to be created will reach the farmer or whether, on the contrary, he will only be left with the responsibility and produce at ever higher costs without really being able to participate in the added value.
Let us think or say about the “macro” as we see fit. The reality is that it allows production at very affordable prices with certainly valid products, but the quality and sustainability in many aspects are questionable and I don’t think we have to discuss it. On the other hand, there are many voices that claim that the peripheral costs of antibiotics, hormones, excesses, nitrogen, etc., cause so much collateral damage in the medium and long term that they make the product more expensive for society than what it costs at the point of sale. Society rejects this kind of economy, but governments “wash their hands” of the responsibility by blaming the supermarket chains, even though they are not at all to blame for the situation.
I don´t hold the law- and rule-abiding farmer-entrepreneur responsible for being forced to maximise effectiveness and volume in order to cope with legal circumstances and market requirements. Everyone has to move within the established system for which no one is unilaterally responsible but which has led to an overall situation that is widely criticised and in many respects critical.
What happen with country people?
Well, apart from the fact that farmers are always country people, even if they don’t farm, we all tend to have a love of the land and nature, and we want to maintain rural life. In this sense, I think that fruit and vegetable growers are going at a frightening rate of facing similar problems to them. It is becoming clear that there will be few macro-producers left (private, macro-associated cooperatives and investment funds) with automatic factories that will sell their produce to the few remaining distributors/supermarkets.
With products of similar quality to those of macro-farms? This is not clear to me. But possibly the supply in the future will be nothing more than optically very perfect products, with a long life, as well as insipid and relatively low in vitamins and other qualities. On the other hand, they are making some very good varieties lately. Rural life will decline in many more places. We are in the midst of the process of the disappearance of farming families (with different effects depending on products or areas) and we should question the scenario presented carefully.
Thirty years ago, I remember a huge number of people involved at all levels of the fruit market. Usually hard-working, skilled people who made a good living; there was something for everyone and the produce was affordable. Although, yes, somewhat less healthy due to the use of chemicals that were harmful to both producer and consumer. Here we have improved substantially, although I doubt that at a reasonable cost and in a reasonable way.
First in Northern and Central Europe and now also in the Mediterranean, the small shops have been disappearing, then the wholesalers and the whole market around them. This projection is not new, we have been living it for the last two decades and although customers and fellow travellers have been disappearing. The market changed but consumption and production continued. So nobody was worried. It didn’t seem to be a threat to the farmer, but today the concentration of demand affects him directly.
The “classic” farmer is disappearing, with an impact on rural infrastructure through continued depopulation that has no figures for me. In our bones we will feel the loss of purchasing power and the decline of service and quality of life (no schools, no banks, no bars, no shops, no transport or doctors, etc) in our villages. And this does not only affect those who live in them, but also a large part of Spaniards who live in the city but who, as soon as they have a day off, change it for “their” town. If we are not capable of changing the “rules of the game” I fear that it will change our lives negatively. Everyone cares and must care about what happens in the primary sector, as we are seeing how basic it is for society in general.
Do we want this situation in the countryside and for the villages? Should we hand over our farms to those who are already on the wheel of the commercial future? Land prices are acceptable and withdrawing seems for many small and medium-sized commodity farmers an option rather than reducing their assets on a yearly basis. But what does this mean for the variety of products on offer, for society and for the people who are still sustained by agricultural activity? If this is not the future we want, it is time to take charge of the situation and develop strategies to demand changes, laws, taxes and subsidies in order to keep agriculture alive for the families of the land of origin.
It is worth thinking about the “face” of our peoples in the future. Who will replace those who leave. Because it is clear that in many crops there is still a seasonal need for a lot of labour. The same applies to warehousing and logistics. As a result, migrant workers will replace the locals and will outnumber the few older residents by far. Together with the decline described above, everyone will be presented with the picture he or she wants to see. But the identity of our villages will change. It is already a reality in some dryland areas and is felt in many more. People who leave the villages generally do not return, so that more and more labour is needed from “outside”.
If we do not question the issue now and work on it cross-sectorally, it will become too big to turn back and the damage created in the agricultural/food sector will be irrecoverable and demographic changes will continue to change our socio-cultural environment. This is the message that the current situation of macro-farms sends us.
