2023-08-14 06:05:03
Buying or renting land is indeed an insurmountable obstacle for many farmers. It is not uncommon to see farming parents reluctantly dissuading their children from taking over the farm. ” There are many pitfalls, even for the most motivated”, explain Olivier Devalckeneer who manage the “Transmiferme” program within the Walloon Federation of Agriculture, a structure that connects buyers with farmers who are ceasing their activities. ” The last few years have been extremely hard for our farmers: alongside droughts, health crises, difficult access to credit, there is now the rise in prices due to the war in Ukraine.”
I earn more by working 18 hours a week in an office than by working 50 hours on the farm, that’s clear.
For many, this new crisis puts the viability of their operation squarely in question. Soaring energy and input prices are threatening the profitability of farms and weighing on incomes. On average, the farmer earns 44 percent less than a person working in the non-agricultural world. “I have a half-time job as a bio-engineer, because without that, I won’t be able to pay myself a salary with what I earn on the farm”explains Maxime Albanese. “I earn more working 18 hours a week in an office than working 50 hours on the farm, that’s clear.”
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#worrying #disappearance #farmers #Belgium
