Danish farmers struggling to make ends meet

Some 15 percent of farmers face bankruptcy

A good portion of Denmark's farmers are struggling financially, according to new analysis completed by the Knowledge Centre for Agriculture (KCA) on behalf of DR Nyheder.

The analysis showed that 20 percent of Danish farmers are in serious financial trouble, while the situation is so dire for 15 percent that they are teetering on the brink of bankruptcy.

"In the long term, about 15 percent of farmers have a very dour future ahead of them," Klaus Kaiser, the head of finance at KCA, told DR Nyheder.

"They have liquidity needs and so much debt that they have no room to manoeuvre financially."

READ MORE: Steep drop in milk prices a huge blow to dairy farmers

Running at a loss
The agricultural sector suffered hard during the global financial crisis that began in 2008 and many farmers accumulated large amounts of debt during that time – debt that could lead to another crisis situation for Danish farmers.

There is also a significant increase in the number of farmers who are running up a loss at their farms. Every third farmer is currently doing so – up from just every fifth farmer last year.

Kaiser said that falling demands, increased production, Russian sanctions against the EU and China's partial withdrawal from the global market due to its large food supplies have all contributed to the current woes being experienced by Danish farmers.

Recently, Børsen newspaper reported that nine out of ten Danish dairy farmers will not earn enough to be able to pay themselves a salary next year.

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