Food or fuel? As wheat prices fall, some Lithuanian farmers are burning their crops

Farmers in Lithuania have begun advertising wheat for heating purposes on social media. Some point out that grain prices have dropped so low that it now makes more sense to burn wheat than to use it for food.

Naturalist Mindaugas Ryla shared a Facebook post from a farmer offering wheat for burning. According to the advert, heating with wheat is more cost-effective than using pellets or firewood, with wheat priced at around €140 per tonne, compared to €260 for pellets.

Ryla told LRT Radio that while people are free to do what they like with their produce, the issue is more complex because wheat growing is subsidised by the European Union. Selling EU-funded crops as heating fuel, he argues, is ethically questionable, since taxpayers ultimately foot the bill.

“When you think about it, it just doesn’t seem right,” said Ryla. “It gives the impression that we’ve got a grain surplus. Maybe it’s marketing, the farmer just wants attention – but the advert sounds drastic.”

Ryla said the problem is that EU taxpayers are funding grain production to make food cheaper, yet the end product is being used for something entirely different.

“In other words, we’re clearly seeing overproduction. Prices have fallen so much that people can now use wheat in ways it was never meant for,” he explained.

While burning biomass isn’t inherently harmful, Ryla warned that the cultivation of grains contributes to soil and water pollution and erosion.

“From an environmental point of view, it’s not normal. The growing process of wheat involves fertilisers and pesticides, which affect the environment, everyone around,” he pointed out,

Martynas Puidokas, deputy head of the Lithuanian Farmers’ Union, said the grain market has reached a point where selling prices don’t even cover production costs.

“Of course, you don’t really see that reflected in food prices. Farmers can’t influence retail prices – those are controlled by intermediaries,” said Puidokas.

He added that there’s plenty of misinformation about farmers “destroying nature” or living off subsidies.

“EU payments were designed to stabilise farmers’ incomes and ensure affordable, safe food. The real problem is the tough market conditions – grain production is costly and labour-intensive, yet no longer profitable,” he said.

According to Puidokas, the situation is driven by high fertiliser costs and overall production expenses.

“We want to draw the government’s attention to this – it’s completely illogical and very rare to see prices collapse like this,” he stressed.

In an email to LRT Radio, Algis Baravykas, head of the Lithuanian Pig Farmers’ Association, said burning wheat raises ethical questions – but so do other uses, such as turning it into alcohol.

“Farmers are no longer raising pigs or poultry, so there’s less demand for feed. Eighteen years ago, LRT showed a report on wheat-burning furnaces in Germany – that started in 2007 because of grain surpluses,” he said.

He explains that market conditions sometimes lead to a surplus of grain or a lack of demand, and given their high energy value, they can be used as a source of heating.

“Essentially, you can burn wheat, rapeseed or rye – they have a high energy value and take up less storage space than wood,” he explained.

Still, Ryla maintains that subsidised wheat should not be used this way.

“There’s biofuel that’s grown specifically for heating, like willow. It’s less polluting and more energy-efficient than wheat. If Europe has a surplus of grain, it shouldn’t be subsidised – the market needs to rebalance naturally,” said Ryla.

Puidokas agreed that it’s abnormal when food crops are cheaper to burn than to eat, though he stressed that wheat burning remains rare – more an exception than a trend.

Tags: biofuel, Lithuania, heating, grain, prices, Production, wheat, rapeseed, rye