There will be no uniform amount of subsidies for corn producers throughout the country. These rates must and will be differentiated – explains the Ministry of Agriculture.
At the end of December last year, KRIR asked the Ministry of Agriculture to make the rates of planned subsidies for corn uniform throughout the country.
Let us remind you that new corn subsidies were won by farmers protesting at the border in Medyka.
What are the subsidy rates for corn?
The Ministry of Agriculture proposed (and the EC agreed) that the aid rate for corn producers should be differentiated and amount to:
- PLN 1,000 per 1 ha of corn cultivation area, excluding silage corn, located in the Lublin and Podkarpackie voivodeships;
- PLN 700 per 1 ha of corn cultivation area, excluding silage corn located in the Małopolskie, Masovian, Świętokrzyskie and Podlaskie voivodeships;
- PLN 500 per 1 ha of corn cultivation area, excluding silage corn, located in voivodeships other than those mentioned in points 1 and 2.
– Such differentiation in aid raises concerns among farmers, especially from the third group of voivodeships, who feel discriminated against, because the aid intended for them is to constitute only 50% of the aid in the voivodeships closest to the border with Ukraine. Farmers see no substantive basis for introducing such a large differentiation of aid. Farmers from the western voivodeships are harmed to a similar extent as farmers throughout Poland, and low purchase prices are common throughout the country – it was noted in the letter from KRIR to the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development.
Maize subsidies must and will be diversified
In response, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development informed that: aid for corn producers in the amount of PLN 500-1000/ha, depending on the voivodeship, is intended to partially compensate for losses resulting from increased expenditure incurred by farmers.
– Aid ratesreferred to in § 13zzl of the Regulation of the Council of Ministers of January 27, 2015 on the detailed scope and methods of implementing certain tasks of the Restructuring and Modernization Agency. (Journal of Laws of 2015, item 187) were regionally differentiated because the regions of south-eastern Poland are the furthest from the domestic grain markets, hence the additional transport costs. When the local market is saturated with corn, there is a need to transport grain over longer distances to distant markets – we read in the response to KRIR.
Deputy Minister Stefan Krajewski also announced that the corn harvest in Poland this season, according to the Central Statistical Office estimates, may be historically high and amount to up to approx. 9.2 million tons (approx. 8% more than last year).
– In recent years, corn production in Poland has increased significantly from year to year, while until 2019 it fluctuated around 4 million tons (the cultivated area has also increased approximately twice since 2019). However, domestic consumption of corn is not characterized by such high variability: in 2023 it is estimated at 4.9 million tons, in 2022 at 4.5 million tons, and before 2019 it was approximately 2.8-4 million tone. This means that more and more exports are necessary to balance the market. Greater supply on the market creates additional downward pressure on prices, the response emphasized.
When will corn subsidies be paid?
Subsidies will be paid for crops with an area of up to 100 ha. The budget for the support amounts to PLN 1 billion. On January 19, the European Commission agreed to provide this assistance. ARiMR has time to pay this support until June 30, 2024. The recruitment of applications is to start soon.
– .
