The Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food has published the provisional list of 139,756 holders of farms producing rainfed arable land, rice and tomato industry, which may receive extraordinary aid to compensate for the difficulties due to drought and the consequences of the war in Ukraine for an amount of 268.7 million euros.

TDB keeps you informed. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram

More than 139,000 farmers to receive extraordinary state aid

This aid, established by Royal Decree-Law 4/2023, of May 11, benefits natural or legal persons or entities without legal personality, holders of agricultural holdings that are eligible to receive direct aid from the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) in the 2023 campaign and that:

have rainfed cropland on their holding, excluding temporary grazing land.

have irrigated cropland in traditional rice-growing areas.

have an area determined for the aid associated with the cultivation of industrial tomatoes in recent years.

The number of eligible hectares for receiving this aid has been determined ex officio by the Spanish Agricultural Guarantee Fund (FEGA) by the criteria established in Order APA/871/2023, of July 20, which implements the aforementioned Royal Decree-Law.

The eligible area of rainfed cropland corresponds to the hectares of land, excluding temporary pastures, determined for the receipt of direct aid corresponding to the single application of the CAP 2023. In the case of the Autonomous Community of the Canary Islands, the number of hectares appearing in the Register of Agricultural Holdings (REGEPA) on June 30, 2023, has been taken as a reference. For these rainfed croplands, a maximum of 300 eligible hectares per beneficiary has been established.

The eligible rice and industrial tomato areas correspond to the area where no sowing of these crops has been carried out in 2023.

The FEGA website contains a document of frequently asked questions prepared specifically for these aids, which explains, among other aspects, the calculation of the eligible areas for each type of product and is illustrated with several examples.

The final unit amounts established by FEGA, based on the provisional list of benefits and areas published in the provisional resolution, are as follows:

39.880605 euros per eligible hectare for farms with the majority of their area of rainfed cropland, excluding temporary pastures, declared in the 2023 campaign in provinces classified as a high drought affectation zone.

19.940303 euros per eligible hectare, for farms with the majority of their land area under rainfed crops, excluding temporary pastures, declared in the 2023 campaign in the provinces classified as a medium drought-affected area.

For rice producers, a unit amount of 186.109491 euros per eligible hectare is established.

For industrial tomato producers, a unit amount of 407.668408 euros per eligible hectare is established.

No aid will be granted to beneficiaries whose total amount to be received is less than 200 euros.

The areas of high affectation for dry farming land established in Order APA/871/2023 are the autonomous communities of Andalusia, Aragon, Castilla-La Mancha, Catalonia, Madrid, Valencia, Extremadura, La Rioja, Murcia and Navarre, and the provinces of Alava, Avila, Salamanca and Segovia, as well as the enclave of Treviño (Burgos).

The areas of medium affection are the autonomous communities of the Balearic Islands and the Canary Islands, and the provinces of Burgos (except the Treviño enclave), León, Palencia, Soria, Valladolid and Zamora.

The provisional list of holders of farms eligible for aid, along with the number of eligible hectares of rainfed cropland, rice and tomato for industry and the amount of aid to be received can be consulted on the notice board of the electronic headquarters of the FEGA.

The distribution by the Autonomous Community of these aids is as follows:

The aids are allocated to the autonomous community in which the single application of the CAP 2023 is managed, therefore in the table appears some community that is not among the areas affected by drought (Cantabria).

The interested parties have a period of 10 working days (from the day following its publication) to make allegations of rejection of the aid, opposition to the consultation of their tax and Social Security obligations (which will have the same effect as the rejection of the aid), or errors, omissions or other circumstances that they deem appropriate. The allegations must be submitted exclusively using a form in the FEGA’s electronic headquarters. It is advisable to carefully read the aforementioned document of frequently asked questions.