– The farmer cannot put the responsibility for the bad times on our shoulders, says Tor Jacob Solberg, leader of the Norwegian Farmers’ and Smallholders’ Association. He receives support from Lise Nicoline Hartviksen. She is a sheep farmer in Nittedal, a little north of Oslo, and struggles to make ends meet. Lise Nicoline Hartviksen loves her job as a farmer, but talk about a tough weekday. Photo: Tobias Prosch Simonsen / news – The farmer must get more for his products. The prices we get do not match what consumers have to pay in the store, she says. She shows how she weighs lambs before they are sent to the slaughterhouse. This lamb is lucky and was a little too small in the autumn. It was therefore saved and stayed on the farm again. Now it weighs 42 kilos. Photo: Marit Sirum-Eikre / news – What do you think of a completely ordinary lamb? – If I’m lucky, and the lamb has the right weight, the right amount of meat and the right amount of fat, then maybe I’ll get NOK 1,500 in subsidy. – What has it cost you? – I have no reason to count on that, because then I go into the red. Tor Jacob Solberg in the Norwegian Farmers’ and Small Farmers Association together with farmer Lise Nicoline Hartviksen. Photo: Tobias Prosch Simonsen / news Like many other farmers, Hartviksen has extra work to get by. In winter, he shovels snow in Oslo. – Fortunately, I don’t have children. I wouldn’t have been able to afford that, she says. She has 64 sheep. – They are my children, she smiles. Strong price increase last year From October last year to October this year, the price of foodstuffs rose by 8.5 per cent, figures from Statistics Norway show. Nevertheless, the Norwegian Farmers’ and Small Farmers’ Association believes that farmers cannot continue as they are today. The Small Farmers’ Association is concerned because more and more farmers are giving up – and has launched a step-up plan for farmers’ income. They estimate that it will cost NOK 20.6 billion. It is quiet in the sheep barn on Lise Nicoline Hartviksen’s farm. Photo: Marit Sirum-Eikre / news The organization believes that agricultural policy must be changed on several points, which can both increase the income of farmers and step up food production. – It is absolutely crucial that the real needs and opportunities of the industry are taken seriously, if we are to manage the necessary transition to a secure food supply in the future, says Solberg. – Unfortunate timing The Progress Party will not agree to food becoming more expensive. The price of food on shop shelves has increased sharply in the past year. Photo: Terje Pedersen / NTB Bengt Rune Strifeldt, spokesperson for agricultural policy in the FRP, believes that the timing of demanding higher food prices is very unfortunate. – We have an expensive time now. Consumers notice very well that there are high food prices and high interest and electricity prices. An increase in food prices is not the right time now, says Bengt Rune Strifeldt, agricultural policy spokesperson in the Frp. – How do you want to reduce the price for people and at the same time preserve Norwegian agriculture? – It is entirely possible, but then you have to look at the system as a whole. You have to look at the entire value chain from the farmer to the consumer’s dinner table. – We must also be able to use price Norges Bondelag is the largest organization for agriculture. They also believe that food prices may increase. Bjørn Gimming, leader of Norway’s farmers’ association. Photo: Camilla Alexandra Lie / news – It is not a goal of the Norwegian Farmers’ Association that the price of food goes up to the consumer, but it is important that the farmer gets a fair price for the products we produce, says leader Bjørn Gimming. – A fair price, what is it? – It cannot be the case that all other links in the value chain will have their prices covered, without the farmer being able to do so. It doesn’t work. He does not ignore the fact that food prices will rise. – We must also be able to use prices to cover the income. That’s how it has to be. Some sheep are more curious than others. Photo: Mairt Sirum-Eikre / news At the same time, he emphasizes that the price the farmer receives for his goods is mainly regulated once or twice a year. When the prices of daily necessities change continuously, it is decided in the shops, not by the farmers. Tor Jacob Solberg, who leads the Småbrukarlaget, believes the solution will be to increase the incomes of farmers both through increased subsidies and higher prices for the consumer. Farmer Lise Nicoline Hartviksen talks to Tor Jacob Solberg in the Norwegian Farmers’ and Small Farmers Association. Photo: Mairt Sirum-Eikre / news – We recognize that people think food is expensive, but we spend twelve percent of our income on food and the most purchased everyday item is soft drink. He believes there is good room and an opportunity to increase profits for the farmer. – There is a limit to how high you can set the price – The daily grocery chains work to support Norwegian agriculture and would prefer to sell Norwegian agricultural products, if possible. The sheep like hay in Lise Nicoline Hartviksen’s barn are blissfully unaware of the discussion around food prices. Photo: Marit Sirum-Eikre / news That’s according to Bendik Solum Whist, industry director of daily pharmaceuticals in the industry organization Virke. He emphasizes that it is important to have competitive prices. – There is a limit to how high you can set the price, before the customer either goes somewhere else, or goes to Sweden to buy their meat, he says. Warns against meat as a cheap lure – Meat should be food that we should appreciate. It must have a different value than being a cheap, cheap lure, says the leader of the Small Farmers’ Association. The sheep farmer outside Oslo wants a life where it is easier to get the week going. Hartviksen cannot imagine a life in an office. The garden is her life. Photo: Tobias Prosch Simonsen / news – If all the farmers could have a good income on the farm, and not have to work hard, that would be fantastic. – What does it take for you to be able to live off the farm? – NOK 350,000 in taxable income per year. Then I could take a holiday, and maybe a night in a hotel, says Hartviksen. She adds that she wants to deliver quality. – I can deliver great meat, she says.
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– The farmer cannot be held responsible for the bad times – news Norway – Overview of news from different parts of the country
