Agricultural income –the value of production by farmers and ranchers– reached its highest point in 20 years in Catalonia in 2025, with 2,805.1 million euros, according to data published this Wednesday by the Department of Agriculture, Livestock, Fisheries and Food of the Generalitat. Thus, the Catalan primary sector leaves behind the hardest years of the drought, when production fell substantially: "This increase consolidates the recovery of the agricultural sector after very complex years," assured the Minister of Agriculture, Òscar Ordeig, at a press conference.

When I started, almost thirty years ago, the bureaucratic burden we were subjected to was smaller and allowed me to combine the work of the land and livestock with that of paperwork. Things went reasonably well for me and the company grew and diversified at a manageable pace. My parents and my partner joined, and with them, the possibility of processing and directly selling our products. We were still a small farm, of course, but there was work for everyone and, as we worked under the precepts of the motto that has governed all farmhouses for centuries, we managed to get by.If you don't know which slogan I'm referring to, it's because you have never enjoyed the privilege of being part of such a well-oiled production unit as the family structures of farmhouses. There is no specialization or a very strict division of tasks because where one doesn't reach, the other does, labor rights do not exist because they are not needed and schedules, leaves, or contracts are extemporaneous formalisms that do not quite fit with the dynamics of a job that is still done as it was done before laws and the regulation of economic activities entered our dining room.There is no sense of sacrifice because things are simply done when they need to be done. The one who sets the pace is not a wicked master who takes advantage of our effort, nor are we slaves to the castrating demands of a control chain designed to nullify individual freedoms in favor of their productivity. If the flock needs to eat, it is not the master's fault, nor is it the endless work of the garden, nor that it will rain the day after tomorrow and I have to spend three nights sowing to take advantage of the remaining moisture.The conditions are self-imposed by us due to a kind of ingrained responsibility inherited from those who worked this land before us. All of this has made us practically the only self-sufficient collective in the First World. We only go to the supermarket to buy what we are unable to produce; the builder, the plumber, or the mechanic only enter the house when the breakdown escapes the skills of the family handymen; we empty the pantry when we are hungry and drink from the well when we are thirsty; we burn the wood from our forests and in the summer, if it's too hot to work, we get up a little earlier and at the peak of the day we take a short nap. It could be said that we have managed to keep open one of the few loopholes that allow escape from the reins of a turbocapitalist system that muddles everything.And the motto? Well, the motto is: “Together we will do everything!” Sounds good, right? Well, it's a lie.Over-regulation has made us slaves to this system as much as or more than any factory or office worker. Let's accept it, we have kept the sacrifices that our work entails but we have lost our autonomy.Record, document, communicate, accredit. Do you have the tag for the certified oats you sowed three years ago? We have detected that one of your animals does not match our data. Do you already have permission to cut the plants on this margin? Keep the recipes, register them. The satellite photos of your fields do not match what you declared. Show me the papers. You have a notification. The deadline is the day after tomorrow. Do you have the well declared with the ACA? DIB validation denied. Have you already done the DUN? Consult the GTR. We have overturned the DAN for you. Pay! Connect! Prove it! Kneel! Fold!

One of the major problems facing Catalonia's primary sector is the severe lack of generational replacement. Although the demand for labor in this sector is very high, bureaucracy and the difficult conditions in which they work Farmers and ranchers seem to be discouraging younger generations from wanting to dedicate their professional lives to agriculture. The succession of family farms is at a critical juncture. At least, that's what this confirms. a technical dossier prepared by the General Directorate of Agri-food Companies in 2024 The study indicates that farmers under 40 years old represent only 11% of farms in the European Union (EU), while in Catalonia this figure plummets to 7%. "A combination of social, economic, environmental, and cultural factors affects the health of the agricultural sector and puts many current farms on alert, as they do not foresee a natural succession," the same study argues. And what is this natural succession? It's the children, who don't follow in their parents' footsteps.

Traditional Catalan is most evident in Lleida. It has almost never rained so much. The region has experienced an unusual winter. According to Aemet, the accumulated rainfall in Lleida since December 1st reached almost 200 mm, an amount four times the historical average. Almost the entire ground in Ponent is saturated with water, and all the reservoirs in the Ebro basin are technically full. The Ebro River Basin Authority (CHE) has estimated a total of 280 hm³ for this year.³ More water will come from snowmelt, an absolutely enormous amount compared to the amount recorded in 2023, which, due to high temperatures and evaporation, was reduced to only 20 hm³.³The water situation is not only good, but even exceeds what is desirable. Many recently planted cereal fields have been damaged by excessive moisture, and most farmers in the Pla de Lleida region do not plan to irrigate in the short term, despite the need to release water from the reservoirs for safety reasons. The water flows downstream, benefiting the sediments of the Ebro Delta. On March 8, the Urgell Canal irrigation community will hold a meeting to plan the next season and establish initial irrigation schedules, although the exact start date remains uncertain. "We are always dependent on the weather, whether it rains or not," admit technical sources from the community.

Visiting three supermarkets to find grapes produced relatively locally shouldn't be normal in a region full of vineyards. And yet, that's what happened to me last year. The produce filling the shelves came mostly from elsewhere, while local farmers find it increasingly difficult to survive. This everyday example explains better than any report what's happening to the agricultural sector. Farmers have been burdened for years with cumbersome bureaucracy, increasingly stringent regulations, and rising costs. Now, on top of all this, there's the trade agreement between the European Union and Mercosur, which further aggravates an already precarious situation.

The principle of Community preference is a fundamental concept that refers to the priority given to products and services originating in the European Union on the EU market. Member States must give preference to European products over those from third countries. The aim is to foster intra-EU trade and European economic integration, protect industry and the economy, and promote economic and social cohesion within the European Union. It should be applied to public procurement, service contracts, state aid, and foreign trade.

Maria Carme Plana Perxachs (Vallgorguina, 1983) is a livestock farmer and forester at the Can Plana farm in Vallgorguina, which dates back to the early 12th century. She is a member of Revolta Pagesa, a group founded two years ago, and president of the Association of Shepherds of Montnegre and El Corredor. She also serves on the board of the Forestry Consortium of Catalonia, is involved with Mujeres del Mundo Rural (Women of the Rural World), and other farmers' and livestock breeders' groups.

It is estimated that there are around 200,000 wild boars in Catalonia, distributed unevenly across the territory. A monitoring program has been in place for two decades, documenting the differences in population density: there are more than fifteen animals per square kilometer in Alt Empordà and Les Gavarres, fewer than three in Els Ports de Tortosa-Beseit, and between three and six along the coast. Collserola ParkThe area is where the outbreak of African swine fever, which has raised all the alarms, is concentrated. Generous rainfall, an abundance of holm oaks, oaks, and beech forests, along with extensive irrigated crops, favor the proliferation of these animals, which generally follow an upward demographic trend. In fact, the Catalan government's program indicates that "wild boar populations do not appear to be close to reaching their peak and have the potential to continue growing."

–Hello, my name is Jordi and I have a question.I saw that your hotel allows pets, right? Pet friendly, it says on the website.

The Catalan wine sector has already begun the grape harvest campaign in some areas of the country with clearly more positive prospects than in the last three seasons. Spring rains and the fact that summer temperatures are, on average, lower than in recent years have facilitated the regeneration of the vineyards: "It will be much better than last year and two and three years ago," says Josep Marrugat, head of vineyards and wine at the agricultural union Unió de Pagesos.

It's 5:30 in the morning, I make a coffee with milk, grab my backpack and walking stick, and open the corral gate to go graze before the sun and heat drive us out of the newly planted stubble.

The inauguration of Salvador Illa's new government last August placed Òscar Ordeig at the head of the Department of Agriculture, Livestock, Fisheries, and Food of the Generalitat (Catalan Government). Almost a year later, and therefore just weeks before celebrating his first anniversary in office, the minister is hosting ARA in the Parliament to take stock and also to discuss both long-term policies and the most recent events of recent months, such as the fires and Brussels' recent proposal to cut funding for the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP).

Becoming a farmer? It's not that easy. Among urbanites, there's often an Arcadian image of the rural world. "And a radish!" the villagers respond. If it were that easy, the cities would be empty and the villages packed to the brim. The weekend is lovely, up in the mountains, with the fireplace lit, taking a walk, reading a book, and extending the evening with a gin and tonic. But start digging the soil on Monday, worrying about whether it rains too much or too little, taking care of the livestock, the crops, or the vineyard. Or, yes, even the rural tourism business. Work! Hard, physical work, without holidays, without much incentive.

There's one activity: looking at construction sites, but another, more groundbreaking, is looking at fields, including the farmer. The tourists stop, park wherever our gentleman suggests (the ford of the first house they find, the path, the dumpster area), and start commenting on the situation.

On this March 8th, I would like to remember the struggle of the Women of Unió de Pagesos to ensure that, in the rural and agricultural world, equal opportunities become a tangible reality, without gender distinction. We must continue working for equal access to all resources and services, to guarantee that our agricultural sector is accessible to all and to ensure that women are seen not as complementary figures, but as leaders at the same level as our colleagues.

The peasantry in the Tarragona countryside is facing a critical situation due to competition from massive imports of products from outside, often with poorer quality controls and lower production costs. This reality endangers the local economy, worsens the abandonment of the countryside and threatens food sovereignty. The viability of the sector must be guaranteed with greater institutional support and urgent measures to protect local products. The peasantry is fed up and changed.