The Council of Tenerife declares the Urgency of four aids to the livestock sector of the Island for a total value of 1.7 million euros. The Minister of Agriculture, Livestock and Fisheries, Javier Parrilla, indicates that the application of this procedure will shorten the terms by half, “which will help reduce uncertainty in the sector and that farmers have the money in a period considerably shorter. The Island Government Council approved the urgent processing of these subsidy lines also undertaken in response to the complicated international situation caused by the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
The specific value of the subsidies is 1.68 million euros. The urgency has been declared for calls for aid for livestock feeding (1,355,000 euros), for livestock health defense groups on the Island (100,000), for the preservation and improvement of native breeds (30,000 euros) and the execution of programs to improve the quality of sheep and goat milk (200,000 euros).
Javier Parrilla also anticipates that the nominative subsidies consigned for this year, which will exceed 400,000 euros, will also be declared urgent soon.
“We want farmers to have the money to offset the price increase”
“With this initiative we want to address the needs detected as a result of the pandemic and of the exponential increase in the price of feed» points out the counselor who adds: «A situation aggravated in the Canary Islands, since the remoteness and insularity cause production costs to be higher, which makes it difficult for our products to be competitive».
Since July 2021 there has been a global escalation in the prices of raw materials for the production of livestock feed. In fact, just last year corn, wheat, barley and soybeans their costs increased by around 30 percent, “and the prospect is that they will continue to increase,” says Parrilla. To this must be added the rise in energy prices and the aggravating factor for this global rise in the war in Ukraine. All this means that many ranchers are forced to produce without making a profit or even at a loss. “Hence the importance of this agreement, which aims to contribute to the maintenance of productivity and the economic recovery of livestock farms on the Island,” says Parrilla.
The head of the primary sector emphasizes the Cabildo’s investment effort this year to support livestock and, specifically, the promotion of its activity. They are 3.1 million euros, “a figure much higher than those provided by the previous government team,” concludes Javier Parrilla.
