What about drought compensation for meadows? – ask confused farmers. The Ministry of Agriculture responds.
The Management Board of the National Council of Chambers of Agriculture, after analyzing the application of the Greater Poland Chamber of Agriculture, contacted the Ministry of Agriculture regarding the calculation of compensation for drought in the case of meadows.
– Farmers report problems with calculating compensation for drought when the farmer has meadows, because different indicators are included in the protocol and others in the guidelines. Meadows are included in crop insurance and at the same time underestimate actual losses on farms. In addition, a significant problem is water standing in meadows for a long time, contributing to rotting and falling out of various grass species. It should also be emphasized that meadows are flooded by the Polish Waters State Water Farms, and this type of flooding is not covered by insurance and the farmer incurs additional losses – he wrote in the second half of April this year. Wiktor Szmulewicz, president of KRIR, to the Minister of Agriculture and requested a comprehensive change in the regulations regarding losses caused by drought.
There are no subsidies for meadow insurance
The Minister of Agriculture in a letter dated June 6 this year. replied that in accordance with the provisions of the Act on insurance of agricultural crops and farm animals of July 7, 2005 (Journal of Laws 2005, No. 150, item 1249) there are no subsidies for meadow insurance from the state budget.
– Taking into account the above, in accordance with § 13 from section 14 of the Regulation of the Council of Ministers on the detailed scope and methods of implementing certain tasks of ARiMR of January 27, 2015 (Journal of Laws of 2015, item 187), the aid is reduced by 50% if on the farm where damage caused by the occurrence of drought in 2023 within the meaning of the provisions on insurance of agricultural crops and livestock, at least 50% of the area of crops grown as the main crop, excluding long-term grasslands, was not insured against the risk of drought, hail, torrential rain, negative effects overwintering, spring frosts, floods or hurricanes within the meaning of the provisions on insurance of agricultural crops and farm animals – explains the head of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development.
He also adds:
– Moreover, due to emerging doubts regarding determining the level of damage in multi-cut crops, I kindly inform you that in the case of multi-cut crops, e.g. meadows, in the public application, losses during the entire growing season are presented separately for each cut and may range from 0% up to 100% for each swath. Therefore, these damages cannot be added up.
How is the percentage of damage calculated?
As also explained by Minister Czesław Siekierski, the total annual production value in the case of meadows was divided between individual cuts in the case of two-cut crops: 1st cut 60% of the average annual production from a given crop, 2nd cut 40% of the average annual production from a given crop.
– This means that to calculate the total percentage of damage in a double-cut meadow, the percentage of damage in the first cut indicated in the report should be multiplied by 0.6. Multiply the percentage of damage in the second cut by 0.4 and add up the percentages calculated in this way.
The Minister also noted in his response to KRIR that regardless of the above, in accordance with Art. 469 section 3 of the Water Law Act of July 20, 2027 (Journal of Laws of 2023, item 1478, as amended), the owners of flooded land are entitled to pursue claims before common courts only after exhausting the administrative procedure.
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