According to Iurre Bidegain in a news release in Kazeta, the Basque Country Chamber of Agriculture (EHLG) currently has 4,500 farms, of which one third is headed by farmers over 50 years of age: "A third of the population does not know if there will be a continuation on their farm," said Daniel Barberá of the EHLG.
Since he addressed the issue in 2019, he has met with 65 farmers who are about to leave the EHLG farm and has organized "coffee broadcasts" throughout Euskal Herria to reflect on the issue. Thanks to this work, they have helped 18 farmers who had no sequences: in five of them the farm transmission has materialized, seven more are in the process of sequencing and in four cases they are looking for the people who will approach the project.
EHLG shows on this map the farms looking for a succession.
EHLG members have explained that the issue is "extremely sensitive", as "for many it has become a taboo". They have explained that it is not easy to take another step in the search for monitoring the farm outside the family. In the past, they were given succession within the families, but today the situation has changed a great deal and, even so, there is sometimes an intergenerational debate. But in many cases, housewives have other purposes and they have to be related to those outside: "Many young people, in many cases far from agriculture and who are not from the Basque Country," said the members of the EHLG.
"If we want our farms to live tomorrow, we need everyone," said Daniel Barberá on 3 November at a press conference in Bilbao. Up to the 30th day, contributions can be made via the website or by sending a check to the Ainhize-Monjolore headquarters.
The campaign, organised last year, achieved a collection of EUR 80,000 and it is estimated that this amount covered 20% of the structure’s budget.