Basis for agricultural policy negotiations

This was the introduction when in April 2019 the Budget Committee for Agriculture (BFJ) submitted the figures that mark the start of the annual agricultural policy negotiations between the state and farmers.

The analysis was conducted by NIBIO’s Department of Agricultural Economics, which acts as the secretariat of the committee.

“The underlying figures both illustrate how the industry actually performed in the previous financial year, and reflect the normal situation, which is development evened out over time,” says Department Head Lars Johan Rustad.

The normal situation is based on results from several years in which economic variations linked to weather or extraordinary events gradually become evened out. These normalized figures form the basis for the negotiations.

The BFJ consists of representatives from parties involved in the agricultural policy negotiations, the state and farmers, as well as neutral members from Statistics Norway and a chair, who, in 2019, came from the Ministry of Education and Research.

The three elements of the background information for the negotiations

Aggregated agriculture account – shows the level of income, income development and overall value creation in Norwegian agriculture. Also used to compare farmers’ income development with that of other social groups.

Reference farms – presents the financial results for reference farms that represent different types of operations, sizes and locations. During the negotiations, these are used to calculate the impact of the requirements and proposals in different scenarios. The figures are based on approx. 700 agricultural enterprises which take part in the operations survey for agriculture.

Results control – illustrates the development and achievement of goals in agriculture. The impact of agricultural policy is shown through selected measurement parameters and changes in them.