More than 100 tractors paraded in Estarreja, demanding fair prices for products

Around 11 a.m., more than 100 tractors and agricultural machines began a slow march along Estrada Nacional (EN) 109 in Estarreja, Aveiro district, in protest by farmers demanding fair prices for their products.

The protest, organized by the Union of Farmers and Heaths of the District of Aveiro (UABDA), took place a day after the government guaranteed that most of the measures in the package of support for Portuguese farmers announced on Wednesday, with more than 400 million euros, come into effect to take effect later this month, with the exception of those dependent on a green light from Brussels.

Farmers say the support promised by the government is not enough to solve the problems of a sector they say is in a critical situation, as noted by Silvino Thomas, 78.

“Factors of production have increased to such an extent that no one can live on agriculture. I have three children, and none of them work in agriculture. If it was attractive, they wouldn’t leave here. Some of them make minimum wage, and I have fairly mechanized farming. In the past, farming was a profession like any other. I was proud to be a farmer. Today I feel ashamed,” said this horticultural grower.

Speaking to Lusa, 37-year-old milk producer Carlos Pinto said the protest was aimed at demanding a fair price for the product.

“We are not interested in credit lines or subsidies. We just want a fair price for products. We will leave here only when the minister gives us an answer to this,” he said.

The owner of a nearly 200-head farm, the dairy producer says most inputs are now being sold at double prices, and milk is only up 10 cents.

“The straw that we bought for seven or eight cents, we bought for 22 cents. Corn silage was 4-5 cents, now it’s 10-12 cents,” he explained.

Carlos Pinto says this situation, which is getting worse, has caused many dairy farms in the region to close in recent years. “From my parents’ generation to mine, there are probably 50% of us, and from mine to my children’s, 10%. Working 365 days a year is not to live, but to survive, and often work to pay. That’s why people are crazy,” he noted.

UABDA President Carlos Alves said the support promised by the government “is nothing more than crumbs,” adding that “part of what was announced was already intended for farmers.”

“Essentially, this becomes the great act of demobilization of the farmers’ movement that they demand,” said Carlos Alves, adding that this support only benefits the “agro-industrial lobby” while “small and medium-sized farmers who suffer in their own skin , remain on the sidelines.”

Dozens of large tractors travel along EN 109 in queues of several kilometers, affecting traffic between the roundabout leading to the A1 and A29 motorways and the roundabout leading to the hypermarkets, under a watchful eye. GNR, which is monitoring the protest.

Some tractor trailers carrying National Agricultural Confederation (CNA) flags carried demanding messages such as “Our end is your hunger” and “more respect for farmers.”

The government on Wednesday unveiled a relief package for farmers aimed at mitigating the impact of drought and strengthening the Common Agricultural Policy Strategic Plan (PEPAC), which did not stop today’s protests.

In the European context, the European Commission, as part of Belgium’s six-month presidency of the Council of the EU, will prepare a proposal to reduce the administrative burden on farmers, which will be discussed by the agriculture ministers of the 27 member states of the European bloc. February 26. .