Christian Anton Smedshaug in AgriAnalyse is asking Minister of Agriculture Sandra Borch (SP) to consider swift financial assistance to farmers and vegetable producers affected by electricity price shock.
“The worst-case scenario is that electricity prices settle at an unstable, high level and that we get a cold winter,” Smedshaug, who is the head of AgriAnalysis, told the newspaper Nationen.
The electricity price spike comes on top of a sharp price increase on fertilizers and building materials. This autumn, before electricity prices soared, the Norwegian Farmers and Smallholders Union estimated that the price spike could leave farmers with a bill of at least half a billion kroner in extra costs. Norwegian producers of tomatoes, cucumbers, and poinsettias are particularly exposed to inflation.
A message to Borch
“Now, when the situation is so demanding, Sandra Borch should consider fast and powerful signals,” Smedshaug said.
Borch has previously told Nationen that compensation for increased electricity costs has been postponed until this spring’s agricultural settlement.
Increased food prices are the only solution now, Bjørn Gimming, the leader of the Norwegian Agrarian Association, stated.
“We raised the electricity issue with the Solberg government, and we raised it again with the Støre government in the additional negotiations. There was no room for maneuver there,” Gimming said.
Source: © NTB Scanpix / #Norway Today / #NorwayTodayNews
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