I am a fast reader and wondered about the mention of prices, too. The Guardian/Graudian has a reputation for their spelling errors but not for shoddy reporting of their reporters and contributors. As the article refers to market prices, I took this to mean the price that producers can ask for their product and not the price that the consumer pays. That farmers receive less while consumers pay more, due to the market-dominant power of supermarket chains, will not surprise anyone who takes an interest in how their food is produced, marketed and sold. But that is not the reason as I learnt when I read a bit more, out of mere curiosity.
The Guardian article is apparently correct:
as a result of unusually hot and dry summers, the oaks are producing fewer acorns. This, plus a drop in the market price, led to a 20% reduction in the jamón ibérico produced last year in Extremadura. The article does not refer just to this year's summer and it refers to last year's drop of prices. Producing a
jamón ibérico bellota isn't quick, it takes 2-4 years. Rentability and profitability are an issue, and small farmers may give up because of this. One may wonder whether we ought to take in interest in the news about the land where we walk as peregrinos and about the people who live there and about short and long-term developments that affect their livelihood when we are merely passing through. Up to each individual to decide.
The price of acorn-fed Iberian hams will skyrocket in the coming years due to a 15% drop in the number of pigs because many farmers stopped rearing this species during Covid-19 and also because of the increase in production costs.
The closure of restaurants and the cancellation of fairs, celebrations and social gatherings during the height of the pandemic caused the price of pig products to fall drastically in 2019 and 2020.
Los costes fijos de producción se han encarecido: el saco de pienso ha subido un 25%.
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