Heat relief

This year government aid for farmers affected by drought will amount to zł.500 million. Farmers who have lost more than 30 percent of their harvests will get zł.245 million in direct help. Those who own farms up to five hectares can count on subsidies of zł.500, while those with bigger farms will get zł.1,000.

The total sum will be enough to subsidize around 300,000 farms. This is a great success for Agriculture Minister Andrzej Lepper, who initially asked for zł.100 million for the farmers. The Self-defense (SO) leader had threatened Law and Justice (PiS) that failure to provide sufficient help for farmers would result in the break-up of the governing coalition.

In addition to direct help, the government will provide subsidies for buying seeds for future sowing - zł.15 million for autumn, and zł.50 million for spring sowing. Livestock farmers whose business is affected by a lack of fodder will get between zł.80-100 million from the Material Reserves Agency. An additional zł.100 million will come from the Agency for Restructuring and Modernization of Agriculture. Farmers can also apply individually for tax breaks and the extension of deadlines for the payment of insurance premiums.

But apart from financial help, Lepper wants to introduce mandatory insurance from natural disasters for farmers. No mention of this can be found in the government's latest decision. "This is a budgetary issue and we have just started working on the budget (...) I'll do everything to include this in next year's budget," Lepper said. He wants 60 percent of insurance premiums to be covered by the state budget, with the remaining 40 percent paid by farmers. Lepper estimates that around zł.500 million would be needed for these payments.