While the majority of young people her age look for stability, defined schedules and a salary at the end of the month that allows them to consider buying an apartment, Elena Burillo lives just at the opposite extreme: days that begin before the sun rises, days that last until night and a constant uncertainty that does not understand calendars.
She is 26 years old, is from Zaragoza and is dedicated to livestock and agriculture, two jobs that, far from idealizing, she describes as they are in her daily life.
For years, he didn’t even consider following that path. Like so many others, he grew up hearing that the field was not an option for the future. However, after a period of doubts and failed decisions, he ended up returning to the origin. Today he combines his university studies with managing his own herd and several farms. Speak to The Vanguard bluntly about a sector where you can work for months without knowing how much you are going to earn (or if you are going to earn anything), but still continue to choose every day.
Combine agriculture and livestock at 26 years old
At what age did you decide to dedicate yourself to livestock and agriculture and why did you take that path?
Actually, compared to usual, late. I finished my studies and began to prepare for the National Police, but I realized that I didn’t like it and I started working on other things. In my house there had always been agriculture and livestock, but they put it in your head that it is not a path and that you are going to live badly, so I didn’t even consider it. I was quite lost for about four years until, when I was 21, I saw a higher degree in viticulture near my town and I thought that it would at least help me get closer to the sector. I didn’t like the vineyard, but I did the internship in Bordeaux and there I was able to use agricultural machinery. When I returned, it was clear to me: I wanted to be a farmer. Then I also started a degree in Agri-Food and Rural Engineering and, at the same time, I bought my first flock.
What is the hardest thing about everyday life that people don’t see?
The meteorology, without a doubt. You may have worked a lot, invested money and time in a crop and suddenly it doesn’t rain all summer and you lose everything. Or a storm hits you and takes it away. Furthermore, you live with constant uncertainty: you know that something is going to break, that you are going to have to fix it, that you are going to take your product to the market without knowing what price they will pay you for it. I always say that we farmers work very little on emotions, because we don’t have time, but we would need it a lot.
And what is it that compensates you?
We are passionate about this. The first thing, Being your own boss is priceless. All the effort you make is for your own goals. I could work less, I could not get complicated with certain crops, but I want to go far in this. For me it is an illusion, not just a job.
On an economic level, can you make a good living from livestock and agriculture?
It depends a lot on the moment. For example, right now the livestock industry is doing quite well, the price of lamb is at historic highs. However, agriculture this year is tighter, especially due to the cost of diesel and other expenses. In agriculture you can earn a lot of money one year and earn nothing the next. That is why it is so important to know how to manage, because changes are very sudden. In the end, the ideal is to combine both things, as our grandparents did: if one fails, the other can compensate.
Is there a stable salary?
No. When you start, the normal thing is that you only put in money. You have to take out loans, invest in machinery, animals… and little by little you recover. It’s not like a fixed monthly salary.
Have you felt questioned because of your age or because you are a woman?
Not because of age, because in the field there are very young people who know a lot, but because of having started later. And for being a woman, at the beginning too. I remember a man who was almost 80 years old telling me: «How are you going to lift that? I’m going to help you.» And I thought: if you can handle it at that age, so can I. Furthermore, on social media you have to constantly prove that you do the work, because if not, people think that your father or someone else does it. That is not questioned in the same way in a man.
Young people are getting closer
Why do you think many young people do not consider this path?
Because parents themselves often do not want it for their children. It’s hard work, no schedules, no days off.…and that weighs, but there is also a very negative image that is not entirely real. I, for example, am not so pessimistic about generational change. I see more and more young people interested. There are a lot of young people at sector fairs and social networks are also helping a lot to show another side of the field.
If someone young wanted to start, what would you tell them?
First of all, let it be formed. Even if you have everything at home, it is important to have studies in case one day you want to change. And then, you have to be very hard-working and ambitious. This is like any business: you have to maintain what you have and grow it. Before you lived with 20 hectares, now you need 200.
How do you see the future of the sector?
Disappearing is not going to disappear, because we all need to eat, but I do believe that many small farmers and ranchers will be lost. Investment funds are buying land and that is a problem. Furthermore, the model is becoming more intensive and small farms are finding it more difficult. In the end, the consumer is the one who decides: if they opt for quality products and more sustainable models, that will continue. If not, we will go towards macro farms and more industrial productions.
The Vanguard.
GML
