The Icelandic government needs to support the domestic grain market to counterbalance rising global prices, the head of the Icelandic Pig Farmers contends.
Most of the grain that Iceland uses to feed its livestock is imported from abroad. However, a particularly dry summer around the northern hemisphere has meant that global grain prices have risen dramatically. Vísir reports that this has caused no small amount of worry among Iceland’s livestock farmers.
Hörður Harðarson, the director of the Icelandic Pig Farmers’ Society, told reporters that the government needs to further subsidize Icelandic grain to act as a counterbalance against rising global prices and support the domestic market better. Grain prices affect not only pig farmers, he says, but also chicken, eggs, dairy and beef.
He points out the pig farmers in Norway are the largest recipients of grain grown in that country. In Iceland, however, most of the grain grown is used on the farms growing it.
Hörður believes that the Icelandic grain system should be reviewed, contending that there is still a great deal of land in the country that is not being used, which could conceivably be turned into farm land specifically for grain.
According to the World Bank, only 0.02% of Iceland’s land is arable.
Buy subscriptions, t-shirts and more from our shop right here!
