Annual conference of the Cash Crop Network

The 55 participants at the conference in Valladolid organised by the Spanish Ministry of Agriculture agreed that 2023 was economically difficult for most typical agri benchmark farms, especially compared to the previous, very high-yielding years. High fertiliser prices, rising machinery costs and lower producer prices put pressure on the return to land.

The forecasts for 2024 are even more pessimistic: Experts expect that the decrease in fertiliser prices will not be high enough to offset the increase in machinery costs. In addition, producer prices are likely to be lower than in the previous year.

The concept and environmental promises of regenerative agriculture were subject of a controversial debate. Critics point out the overestimated benefits and the lack of consideration of important emission sources such as nitrogen use and land use changes. In view of this, agri benchmark will publish a position paper with more meaningful indicators.