The Union of Small Farmers and Livestock Breeders of Castile-La Mancha (UPA) has warned of the impact that 23% reduction in the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) budgeta measure against which the sector will mobilize on the 18th … December in Brussels. The organization made this announcement in Albacete where it took stock of a particularly complicated year for the agricultural and livestock sector.
The regional secretary of the UPA, Julián Morcillo, indicated that The current CAP proposal “has mobilized practically all those who oppose it”. and it is very likely that it will occupy a significant part of our union action by 2026. In this sense, he insisted on the fact that agricultural organizations do not understand the initiative of the European Commission, “especially after these European elections during which politicians seemed to have understood the situation and the message of the latest mobilizations” in the countryside.
Morcillo defended this “It is necessary for Europe to have a sufficient budget to maintain the food guarantee and economic development of the municipalities” and warned that the proposed changes “do not threaten the single common policy born with the birth of the European Union and do not create differences between the Member States”. For this reason, he recalled that on December 18, representatives of the sector from almost all 27 countries of the European Union “will join forces and their demands” to demand a modification of the proposal.
Concerns about the Mercosur agreement
The UPA also expressed its concern about the Mercosur agreement, whose provisional pact could be announced in the coming weeks. Although Morcillo acknowledged that this can be beneficial for sectors like wine or oilwarned that “this generates a lot of doubts about the reciprocity of production due to the demands of European producers”. In this context, he designated poultry, honey, sugar and corn as “the most vulnerable”. Likewise, the regional secretary argued that they would require adjustments in imports from countries like Ukraine and the United States.
In its annual report, the UPA focused on the impact of various diseases that have affected the livestock sector, such as avian flu, bluetongue or recent cases of swine fever detected in Catalonia, which had repercussions on the market. In the agricultural field, Morcillo recalled the climatic challenges experienced this year, such as the heat stroke that occurred after last winter which destroyed several crops in the southeast of Albacete and which was managed to alleviate after negotiation with the regional government aid worth six million euros, mainly intended for the cultivation of walnuts and which reached almost 5,000 farmers.
wine sector
Regarding the wine sector, Morcillo indicated that Castilla-La Mancha will reach a production close to that 19 million hectoliterswhich means the second shortest campaign of the century after several years of crisis. “The drop in production was not offset by the price of grapes,” he said, defending compensation for winegrowers. In this context, the UPA considered the creation of a sectoral table to address issues such as the price crisis.
Other crops, such as melon and watermelon, have suffered price declines below the cost of productioneven going so far as to “consider abandoning these cultures”, while the almond and pistachio maintain “an interesting perspective and with reasonable prices”“.
Faced with these problems, the agricultural organization valued the increase in the budget allocated to agricultural insurance, which reached 315 million euros, with the contribution of 10.5 million from Castile-La Mancha and the forecast that this amount will reach 12 million in the next budgets.
The UPA also claimed that European environmental standards relating to emissions or use of nitrates “be simplified” and adapt to realistic deadlines. Another of the great challenges of the sector, according to Morcillo, is generational change, knowing that only 12% of European farmers are under 40 years old. In this area, he recalled that 1,552 people benefited from the last two calls for aid for young farmers in the region.
To address this situation, the organization indicated that the regional government would launch a new appeal in the coming months and appreciated the European initiative Horizon 2040which sets the objective of doubling the number of young farmers.
The UPA closed its annual report by recalling its formal recognition, with the rest of the agricultural organizations, after the approval of the law on the representativeness of professional agricultural organizations in the Cortes of Castile-La Mancha, as well as the promotion and awareness campaigns developed in sectors such as beekeeping or extra virgin olive oil, with the aim of “transferring knowledge of the origin of these products and the effort they devote to them”.
Morcillo concluded by demanding that political leaders “a particular sensitivity for the most important sector in our regionwhich guarantee quality food and prevent the disappearance of new family farms.
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