At a time when economic and productive pressures are accumulated for the primary sector, farmers, farmers and beekeepers of Grevena are preparing for the meeting convened by the Grevena Agricultural Association on Friday 28 August 2026, at 11:30 in the morning, at the Grevena Town Hall.
According to the Association's announcement, the meeting takes place in coordination with the Pan-Hellenic Committee of Blocks, while the agenda includes the outstanding issues in myAGRO and IACC and the impact on aid payments, production costs, low prices of agricultural products, de minimises, damage from grasshoppers in Grevena, as well as issues of prevention and vaccination of livestock.
On the occasion of the forthcoming meeting, AgroType contacted the president of the Grevena Agricultural Association, Mr.Lazaros Uzounidis, who is talking about the situation currently facing the producers of the region and concerns in view of the new growing season.
IACS, myAGRO and monitoring in key concerns
According to Mr. Uzoudis, one of the main reasons leading to the meeting is the unfinished business around myAGRO and the IACC, combined with outstanding aid from 2025, which, as he says, has not yet been paid.
Special reference is made to monitoring, arguing that problems and penalties are being created on parcels, while in some cases the results are disclosed when the crop has already been removed from the field. The issue, as he explains, is borne by the existence of areas without redeployment and agricultural parcels with difficulty of access. The Association, according to him, has requested the results to be published by May, so that producers can react in time. «Now what should we go and prove and what pictures should we take? The crop has left the field», reports features.
By referring to the IPECEP case, it argues that cases of unlawful aid should be identified and that the consequences should not be borne by producers operating legally.
In the same context it raises another practical issue. As he says, during this year's threshing the producers issued electronic dispatch sheets for the grain delivered to traders, while the cultivation declarations had not yet been completed. It thus expresses concern that problems may arise in subsequent cross-checks and in general the matching of real crops with those ultimately declared.
Low prices and high costs – «We don't know what we're sowing this year.»
There is a particularly strong concern about the sustainability of crops. Grevena is an area with a significant presence of cereals and clover and, according to Mr.Uzoudis, low prices, reduced productions in cereals this year due to weather conditions and increased costs have significantly reduced the margins of producers. That is why, as he says, there is also a question of financial support for cereals. «Costs are too expensive and people don't know what to do. We don't know what to sow this year.», notes.
For wheat, it gives an indicative price of around EUR 0,20 per kilogram, which, as it argues, is not sufficient to cover production costs. The same equation also includes oil, pointing out that in days of intensive agricultural work fuel costs can even reach 1,000-1,200 euros, with work lasting 12 to 14 hours.
Economic pressure, according to him, has reached the point of many producers having to do four or five different jobs to support their families, while considering that some will limit the cultivated areas, choosing mainly privately owned fields where they can use their own mechanical equipment.
The search for alternative crops has not necessarily provided a way out. Mr. Uzoudis says that producers turned to aromatic plants, where today, according to him, the cost of distillation may even exceed the value of the product produced. A similar picture describes the lentils, with a producer price of around EUR 0,45 per kilogram for costs estimated at more than EUR 1.50, considering that cultivation is at risk of being drastically reduced and that, in some cases, those who continue to sow it may do so mainly because of the aid. «You can't produce and your product is worthless.», points out.
Locusts, irrigation and problems at the disposal of feed
Among the issues raised by Mr. Uzoudis are this year's attacks by locusts, which, according to him, caused problems especially in areas with clover. As he notes, the Association has already moved on the issue, making contacts and visits even at Ministry level, while producers expect the development of the request for financial support through de minimis.
The state of irrigation infrastructure is also an important issue. The president of the Association refers to the limited irrigation opportunities in the county and points out that it is aimed both at developing new irrigation projects and installing photovoltaics in existing ones in order to reduce energy costs. «We're trying to start new irrigation and the ones that are suffering from PVs to be more sustainable and more economical in the current.», points out.
In the livestock sector, he states that so far Grevena have no cases of sheep and goatspox. However, as he explains, problems in neighbouring areas and restrictions on movements have also created difficulties for producers of Grevena feed, who cannot deliver or move products to some of the areas where they usually had them.
«I see everyone wants to stop.» – Demographic and young farmers
Behind the individual problems, Mr. Uzoudis identifies a deeper issue: the removal of people from agriculture and the population shrinkage of the countryside. As he says, even producers from rural families with their own land and engineering equipment are now having difficulty in seeing with optimism the continuation of their activity. «I see everyone wants to stop.», notes.
In the same way, this uncertainty works even more dissuasive for a young man who is considering the possibility of dealing professionally with the primary sector. Referring to the latest Young Farmers programme, he argues that interest was significantly lower than previous periods and that neither the available budget was absorbed, which he links to uncertainty about the future of the profession.
According to Mr. Uzoudis, this image is also linked to the wider demographic problem of the Grevenes. He mentions a reduction in the population of the county by 50%-60% and brings as a typical example his village, which, as he says, from about 450 inhabitants in 2000 is currently about 80, with the large majority over 70 years of age. «They have to do something, they have to motivate people, the youth, to work the fields.», points out.
At the INT rally the next moves
Mr.Uzoudis points out that the Grevena Agricultural Association is in constant communication with the producers of the region, while the August 28th meeting will also be a discussion area for their next moves.
According to the Association's announcement, coordination will be decided at the meeting for the participation of producers in the agricultural rally with tractors at the White Tower on 5 September, as part of the ITH. A free bus of ADEDY is scheduled to travel to Thessaloniki, leaving at 13:00 from Roi Grevenon.
