The ministerial order is published in the BOE, once the public consultation procedure carried out with the Autonomous Communities and the agricultural sector has been concluded, and includes the 81 million Euros from the agricultural reserve allocated to Spain by the European Commission.

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Extraordinary aid

The Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food establishes the criteria for granting 357.7 million euros in extraordinary direct aid to the agricultural sectors most affected by the consequences of the second year of drought and the increase in production costs due to the war in Ukraine.

The ministerial order published today in the Official State Gazette, once the consultation procedure with the Autonomous Communities and the sector has been completed, sets the conditions, as well as the amounts of aid depending on the areas and the level of effect of the drought on them.

Of these 357.7 million euros, 268.7 million euros will be allocated to mitigate the situation of farmers with rainfed arable crops and certain industrial crops (industrial tomato and rice). Another 8 million Euros will go to cherry producers in Valle del Jerte (Cáceres). While the 81 million euros from the agricultural reserve – granted to Spain by the European Commission – will go to producers of certain woody crops (pome fruit, stone fruit, tropical fruit, citrus and nuts).

For rainfed arable crops, the unit amount of aid is differentiated by zone. Thus, in the larger zone, where crop reductions have been more pronounced, farmers will receive the full unit amount of aid per hectare. This zone includes the autonomous communities of Andalusia, Aragon, Castile-La Mancha, Catalonia, Extremadura, Madrid, Murcia, Navarre, La Rioja and the Valencian Community, as well as the provinces of Avila, Salamanca and Segovia, in Castile and Leon, and the province of Alava, in the Basque Country. Farmers in the northern provinces of Castilla y León, Zamora, León, Palencia, Valladolid, Burgos and Soria, where the effects of the drought have been less severe, as well as those in the Balearic Islands and the Canary Islands, will receive 50% of the unit amount per hectare of aid.

For industrial crops, industrial tomatoes and rice, aid is provided for producers who, exceptionally, have not been able to plant on the land they intend to use for tomatoes or rice.

Aid directly to CAP recipients
These aids will be paid directly to the holders of agricultural holdings that are beneficiaries of the direct aids of the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) corresponding to the year 2023, whose presentation term ended last June 30, without the beneficiaries having to carry out any type of additional management.

The aid will be granted from a minimum of 200 euros and will be limited to 300 hectares per beneficiary in the case of rainfed croplands and will be paid by direct transfer by the Spanish Agricultural Guarantee Fund.

Likewise, 8 million euros will be transferred to Extremadura, to grant compensatory payments to cherry producers in the Jerte Valley who have been affected by an unusual concurrence of climatic phenomena. The payments will be granted to cherry farmers, up to a maximum of 20 hectares, with a full unit amount for those who have taken out agricultural insurance and 50% of the amount for farmers who have not, to promote this form of coverage against weather risks among farmers.

81 million for certain woody crops
81 million from the agricultural reserve, aid will be granted to producers of certain woody crops (pome fruit, stone fruit, tropical fruit, citrus and nuts), since they have been affected to a greater extent in the critical phases of cultivation.

In this case, two zones will be established with differentiated aid amounts per hectare. Producers in the provinces of Almería, Granada and Málaga, in Andalusia, will receive the full unit amount per hectare, as well as producers in Aragón, Cataluña, Navarra, La Rioja and the province of Álava, in the Basque Country. Producers in the rest of the provinces of Andalusia, Castilla-La Mancha, Extremadura, Murcia and the Valencian Community will receive 50% of the unit amount of the aid.

This aid will also be paid in the form of a direct subsidy by the Spanish Agricultural Guarantee Fund, based on the eligible areas of the CAP applications for 2023, with a limit of 70 hectares per beneficiary, without the producers having to carry out any additional management.

Possibility of co-financing by the communities.
The autonomous communities will be able to make complementary payments to the 81 million euros from the agricultural reserve, to the sectors and farms they consider, up to the limit of 200% of that granted under the provisions of the ministerial order published today, in accordance with the conditions established therein.

Extraordinary direct aid in addition to the CAP
In total, since the beginning of the production cost crisis due to the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the Government has mobilized more than 1,380 million euros in extraordinary direct aid for the agricultural sector. In this way, the Government has enabled aid for 169 million euros for the dairy livestock sectors; 193.5 million euros for the meat livestock sectors and the citrus sector; 300 million euros to alleviate the effects of the increase in the cost of fertilizers; 355 million euros for the livestock sectors; 5 million euros for the beekeeping sector; to which are added the 357.7 million euros of the ministerial order published today.

These aids are in addition to the direct payments of the Common Agricultural Policy, which amount to 4.8 billion euros per year.

Moreover, they are additional to other fiscal measures, such as the general reduction of 25% of the net yield of the Personal Income Tax for farmers and stockbreeders under the objective estimation regime by modules; the reduction of the tax applicable to agricultural diesel oil or liquidity measures through loans guaranteed by Sociedad Anónima Estatal de Caución Agraria at reduced interest and with subsidy to part of the capital; as well as increases in the budget allocated to subsidies in agricultural insurance and insurance policies due to drought.