Josep Castells is one of the thousands of farmers who these days have taken to the roads and have planted themselves in Barcelona to protest the agricultural crisis in which most years, if there is no climatological damage, the prices do not follow. "We pay for a coffee with three kilos of peaches, the accounts don't work", he says from Alcarràs, his town, where he grows fewer and fewer fruit trees and more almond trees.
He is one of the influencers of the agricultural sector. On X, formerly Twitter, their account, El tractor Rosa, goes like this: family farmers in the land of fruits and fog. It reached 14,000 followers, although the social network closed it down due to an age error and is now starting to regain its following.
He insists that the price crisis has been dragging on since 2014, from the Russian veto on European agri-food products as a response to the EU's reaction to the annexation of Crimea by Russia, the first invasion of Ukraine. "Vladimir Putin went shut down all exports of agricultural products there and automatically 25% of our fruit was left hanging. They went into free fall and we haven't practically recovered," he says.
Josep acknowledges that prices have gone up a little, but the situation has not improved because production costs have also gone up: fuels, fertilizers or energy and labour.
Castells recalls that the stone fruit study presented by the Climate Action Ministry in July placed the production cost estimated by the farmer at an average of 0.409 euros, without taking family labor into account. If the expenditure on family labor and the cost of making are taken into account, the production cost would rise to 0.992 euros per kilo, with a fork between 0.899 euros and 1.105, according to the study prepared by Department and the Center for Research in Economics and Agricultural Development (Creda).
Knowing the accounts of many farmers, he assures that in some fruit cooperatives in the Ebro valley it has been settled at 0.40 euros. "You have to put on a lot of kilos to survive, there are already family businesses in danger".
Josep Castells and his brother have a sow farm and also grow sweet fruit and nuts. Less and less sweet fruit and more almonds. Peaches, which years ago represented 70% of agricultural production, now represent only 40%. "It is mandatory - he explains - to have several productions, in case one fails not to lose everything". The farm, to which his son has joined, is in full conversion to continue growing in nuts.
"Basically because it is a crop with more stable prices. We are lucky that 80% of the world's almond production is in the United States, which is where the price is set. They have higher production costs there than ours, the producers want to make a living and that holds up the prices a bit. There are fluctuations, but it gives more security", he explains. And he gives more arguments: it is a crop that can be mechanized, does not require so much labor and is not so perishable. "If you don't like the price - he points out - don't come. The sweet fruit must be consumed within a week."
Castells trusts in the mobilizations of the sector, which, in his opinion, are giving good results. "We are at the beginning, I think that they are serving. The president of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, announced the withdrawal of the law that sought to reduce the use of plant protection products throughout the EU, and has also withdrawn the obligation to leave fallow. And we will achieve more, because we will continue to mobilize".
And he also says that a good observer can see that it is not a claim from Catalonia, Aragon or Portugal, but is global. "Alarms are going off, I don't remember any other mobilization in which all the farmers rose up at the same time. In a matter of three days - he says proudly - we set up a sideral with a WhatsApp hit".
And despite the long crisis in the sector, he remains hopeful that the effort will be worth it. He often tells his son, Roger, who will continue in the business, that it's a job where you have room to grow. "I know there are difficulties, but if you are smart you can get ahead by working hard. The farmer does not have a schedule and if he is also a livestock farmer, he has less free time", he insists.
He defines the job as "a hard life, but satisfying, because you work for yourself, in the middle of nature", while in other jobs you depend on a paycheck. For him, the best thing about being a farmer is that it is a "very creative job in the middle of nature". The worst is the one you can't control. As an example, he cites the cucumber crisis, when due to a false accusation by Germany against Spanish production, the price collapsed and the sector was ruined.
It also alludes to office decisions away from agricultural work. One of his X messages reproduces a phrase attributed to US President Dwight Eisenhower: "Farming looks easy when the plow is a pencil and you're a thousand miles from the cornfield."
low prices
the winter of discontent
