A group of Gozitan farmers and livestock breeders risk being forced to shut down their operations due to increasing expenses and an uneven playing field.
Six farmers spoke on how the number of people working in the sector has diminished drastically, and that those who remain in business only do so because they have invested too much money to afford to pack it in now.
“Farming is in my blood, my family is made up of livestock breeders. It has always been my wish to continue the family tradition but I wanted to do it properly, aided by technology and maintaining modern standards,” one young chicken farmer said.
Encouraged by what he described as “promises that the farming sector would be given the attention it so desperately needed by the authorities”, he decided to take up a funding scheme that supports investment in cost-effective and environmentally efficient systems, in order to set up what he believed would be a worthy enterprise.
“Like most funding schemes, this one does not finance 100 per cent of the capital outlay required, so I – and many others like me – had to take out a substantial bank loan that runs into hundreds of thousands. We were all led to believe that the investment would be recouped and that the farming industry was going to be revived, but it turns out that the opposite was true,” he said, visibly worried.
Instead of seeing the improvements he was promised, he added, these past two years have actually seen a deterioration within the local market. Some periods were so dismal that, for over three months, he was even forced to halt production.
“The market always fluctuates. It is to be expected. But not to this extent. At one point my middleman was selling nothing but imported chickens to his customers. He told me bluntly that he couldn’t guarantee any orders. I had to stop breeding for a while,” he explained.
Asked why he decided to resume business, given that the sector has become so unreliable, his answer was dry and to the point: “Bank loans”.
“At the moment we do have some orders trickling in. Before shutting down for good, I need to pay off as much as I can from the loan that I took in order to cover the expenses that funding didn’t. It’s a good thing that I am also doing another job, now, or I don’t know how I would be feeding my family. It is very rare that I manage to take money from farming back home,” he said.
His colleague, a cow breeder, nodded, his frustration at the situation visible on his face. Perhaps surprisingly, he added that while imports remained a major problem, it is the fact that the playing field is not a level one that is killing the local industry.
“Maltese farmers and breeders have to work within a very strict framework of EU regulations, which would be fine if these were also applied to everyone else. But they aren’t. So here we are, spending money to make sure we work by the rules while others sail in with imported produce however they please,” he said.
Asked what he meant by this, the farmer – another family man in his 30s – gave me a whole list of grievances where, he claimed, different standards are applied to Maltese and foreign farmers.
Those who play by the rules are punished while those who bend them get richer
“It’s a case of two weights and two measures. We know for a fact that foreign meats are imported to Malta in one container – pork, beef, chicken and whatever, all chucked together. An importer doesn’t even need to use multiple freezer trucks, so that’s one expense off the list. On the other hand, when Maltese farmers import livestock, we need to ensure there is separate transportation for every species. How is this a level playing field?” he asked.
The list continues. He mentions chicken imported from Italy that is repackaged with a ‘product of Malta’ stamp; produce originating in non-EU countries but imported with an Italian stamp; non-EU produce that is untested for Class 1 pesticides...
“Of course, they are in a position to sell produce at a much cheaper price. We cannot export our produce, like the bigger countries do, so we have to rely on the local market. But we are not even protecting that. I can tell you that the pork that is being imported from Italy crosses over to Malta stacked up in normal vans. Not in freezer vans,” he said, adding that in the case of Maltese farmers, controls were applied “every step of the way”.
“The model that we follow is fantastic. It comes with the highest standards of equipment and hygiene. At first, I was kind of excited about it. I mean, which farmer doesn’t want to be at the cutting edge of technology? But financially, it just isn’t working out. Our market is too small for us to function within a general EU framework,” he explained.
He believes that the Italian market remains the biggest competitor, with farmers there in a position to sell chicken meat at €1.80 per kilo.
“We cannot sell our meat that cheaply. All the raw materials we need are more expensive in Malta, starting with fodder. We even pay more for that in Gozo than they do in Malta, let alone in Italy. If you factor in all the other costs we face – especially transportation – the figures speak for themselves. Many who are not involved in the sector accuse us of always bringing forth the same complaints, but since they have not been resolved, what else can we do?” he asked.
A third farmer, who focuses on fruit and vegetables, expressed dismay at the way the sector is “deemed unimportant by all administrations, whichever party is in government”.
“What happens when consumption of local produce falls from 30 per cent to zero? Prices will suddenly spike up, that’s what will happen. People don’t realise that the prices of imported foodstuffs are so low only because they need to beat local competition. As soon as there is none of that, suddenly your tomatoes and your chicken breast will become much more expensive. Is anyone planning for this eventuality?” he asked.
The likelihood of this happening, he continued, is not remote, given that very few youngsters show an interest in taking up farming.
“Why would a 20-year-old pick a job where he’s expected to be on call at all hours, be up at the crack of dawn toiling the fields and generally have no life? Well, not unless there is a sensible structure to count on and the possibility of making a decent living, anyway.”
There is one thing that the farmers I speak to are all agreed upon: the system needs to change from the grassroots. Their vision is for a functioning farmers’ association to be set up; a grading station to be established; a direct selling system to be implemented in a regulated manner.
“As it is, everything is too scattered. The regulations are there, but they are impractical and applied haphazardly,” yet another one complained, saying that many seemed to believe that thanks to EU funding farmers had “become rich overnight”, but that this was not the case.
A pig farmer nodded and chimed in with: “The money we got was to help us partially fund new equipment. We all had to fork out a significant amount of capital, added to that, and we have seen no return at all from our investment. I used to kill 22 pigs a week, I now kill five.”
Asked whether they see a solution, the farmers all give me the same answer – if the authorities really want to help the local industry, the only solution is to listen to what they really need and to introduce a measure of state aid to the sector.
“Meantime, those who play by the rules are punished, while those who bend the rules get richer,” the pig-farmer concluded, the bitterness in his voice ringing loud.
Eating local
This is the fifth in a series of articles in The Sunday Times of Malta looking at different aspects of the local food industry in a bid to raise more awareness of this crucial, yet often neglected, sector.