Here comes another voice on the need to change the methodology of calculating agricultural income, after last year’s calculation by the Central Statistical Office at a record level of approximately PLN 5.5 thousand. zloty.
As we have already written about it, in September last year the Central Statistical Office published data showing that the agricultural income from 1 hectare for 2022 is PLN 5,549. Therefore, it was set at a level almost twice as high as that calculated for 2021!
If it were not for the fact that the amount of income provided by the Central Statistical Office serves, among others, to determine the amount of monthly repayments of a housing loan depending on the borrower’s household income, to determine the amount of income of a family or a student entitling people living on a farm to receive a family allowance, and to grant an eligible person a benefit from the maintenance fund, we would probably just laugh at the given information in mid-September. But unfortunately, it is not a laughing matter for those who benefit from the above-mentioned assistance in agriculture.
It’s time to change the counting methodology
The creation of a new system for calculating the level of agricultural income and its correction as the price and cost situation in agriculture changes, in such a way that this indicator actually reflects the current economic and income situation of farmers, has already been called for by, among others, Greater Poland Chamber of Agriculture:
Now the Management Board of the National Council of Agricultural Chambers has decided to intervene in this matter.
On January 26, 2024, KRIR asked the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development to discuss the possibility of changing the methodology of collecting data and calculating the average income from work on individual farms per 1 ha.
– The indicator announced on September 21, 2023 by the Central Statistical Office is PLN 2,200 higher than in the previous year and amounts to PLN 5,549. According to farmers, the methodology for determining the indicator does not keep up with the realities of running farms – states the agricultural self-government in the letter.
And adds:
– The average income indicator was calculated by the Central Statistical Office for 2022 and will be used in 2024. During this time, the prices of agricultural products dropped significantly and production costs remained high. For this reason, the income actually obtained by farmers often does not cover the costs and farms suffer losses, which is not reflected in the level of the indicator.
– .
