War and energy crisis, many expenses: the surrender of farmers

One in four young farmers (25%) has reduced production due to energy price increases exacerbated by the war in Ukraine, which have caused a record increase in costs, from diesel to fertilisers, from feed to packaging materials and now endangering the future of an entire generation committed to the struggle for food and energy self-sufficiency. This is what emerges from Coldiretti’s analysis released on the occasion of the sensational protest in the Villa of Milan in Piazza Cannone in Sempione Park with thousands of farmers who left the countryside to go out into the streets together with President Ettore Prandini and denounce an unsustainable situation that threatens the the very survival of Made in Italy on the table due to the effects unleashed by the war in Ukraine.

The young people of Coldiretti wear their own clothes and work tools, from the overalls and boots of those who take care of the animals in the stables to the fishermen’s nets, to the clothes of the beekeepers, accompanied by the Terra donkey, which has become the symbol of the protest. Protesters’ signs read “No agriculture, no food”, “We work 24 hours for the counter”, “We stop speculation”, “We milk the cows, not the farmers”, “No farmers, no food”, “The bureaucracy kills the fields”. Many brought their own products (sausages, cheeses, local fruit specialties) put at risk by energy increases, which therefore do not spare even the most advanced part of the agricultural sector, which has in fact become the important point of reference for the new generations, so much so that last year an average of 17 new companies were born per day, according to analysis by Coldiretti-Divulga.

A change of era that has not happened since the industrial revolution with the land trade that has become – specifies Coldiretti – the new path of the future for many Italian children, with 56,000 companies led by under-35s that have an area that is almost twice the size of the average (18.3 hectares of UAA per company against 10.7), a turnover above 75% of the average and 50% more employees per company. Young companies are therefore larger and more market-oriented and their level of digitization is double that of agriculture as a whole, as is their propensity to innovate (24.4% of young people made at least one innovative investment in the 2018 triennium -2020, compared to 9.7% of non-young people), according to Coldiretti’s analysis of Istat and Ismea data.

It is no coincidence that almost one in three agricultural companies (31%) today apply precision agriculture 4.0 techniques, according to an analysis by Coldiretti based on the Report of the Centro de Estudos Divulga, from drones to harvesters with a mapping system production, even satellites to integrated systems for online farm management, such as Demetra, an application developed at the Coldiretti Associate Portal. In fact, young companies have revolutionized the farming profession – notes Coldiretti – by engaging in cross-functional inactivity that, with the energy crisis triggered by the war in Ukraine, has become increasingly strategic. They range from producing renewable energy to contribute to self-sufficiency of supply sources to developing short supply chain with direct sales that reduce transport to social agriculture to overcome inequalities. A phenomenon that now risks being cornered by the cost explosion fueled by the war, adding to the problems already caused by bureaucracy, which takes companies to 100 days of work and often makes it difficult for them to access community resources. . “It is necessary to support the phenomenon of the return to the land and the ability of Italian agriculture to offer and create opportunities for employment and professional growth, which are also destined to increase over time”, says Coldiretti youth leader Veronica Barbati underlining that “the dramatic crisis triggered by the war jeopardizes the future of the most advanced part of Italian agriculture committed to a path of innovation and sustainability to contribute to the country’s food and energy sovereignty”.