DANISH AGRICULTURE (4)

Danish agriculture is a powerhouse. Yet even powerhouses need a helping hand, as recently published figures show.

Between 2006 and 2011 Danish agriculture made a collective profit in only the first and the last years. Much of this can be put down to the financial crisis, which has affected all industries; 2011's kr.5 billion profit shows that the sector is slowly pulling itself out of the black hole of 2008.

However, if E.U. subsidies are taken into account, the picture is much bleaker. Without help from Brussels, Danish agriculture would have made a loss in every year. The kr.2.4 billion real loss in 2011 was admittedly much less than the kr.16.9 billion in 2008, but it was still a loss.

Which makes Prime Minister Helle Thorning-Schmidt's triumphalism about the outcome of the E.U. budget negotiations a bit odd. Yes, Denmark got the kr.1 billion rebate it had long been demanding. But the cuts in agricultural support inherent in the new 7-year framework will result in a loss of at least 20% (or kr.1.4 billion) in subsidy. Danish farmers are already talking nervously about further bankruptcies later this year.

If Danish agriculture can't make money, what hope is there for Danish other stuff? This is worrying.

Walter Blotscher