Background information

Unfavorable spring and early summer weather in 2023 conditions caused a lot of damage to the agricultural sector. The subsidy is directed to ensuring food security and maintaining the economic viability of agricultural producers.

The funds will be allocated to entrepreneurs in horticulture and animal husbandry who have been most affected by adverse weather conditions.

Content of measure

The measure covers particular fields of agriculture that were most affected. The fields were determined in discussions with the Agriculture Development Council, which includes members from sectoral employers' organisations and business organisations. In horticulture, apple and currant cultivation, farmers suffered significantly due to strong night frosts. In the animal husbandry sectors, which are primarily reliant on permanent grassland, the drought has impacted the supply of feed for beef cattle, sheep, goats, and dairy cows in small herds.

In total €3.4 million will be allocated to the agricultural sector to alleviate losses caused by adverse weather conditions. The European Commission allocated €1,722,597 to Estonia and the rest of the financing comes from the state budget.

The grant is administered by the Agricultural Information and Registers Agency (PRIA), which pre-fills the electronic application based on the data from the national register and makes it available to the applicant in the PRIA e-services environment. The applicant must verify and inform PRIA in writing of possible inaccurate data and submit an application for support.

Use of measure

No information currently available.

Target groups

Workers	Businesses	Citizens
Does not apply to workers	Sector specific set of companies	Does not apply to citizens

Actors and funding

Actors	Funding
National government	European Funds National funds

Social partners

Social partners' role in designing the measure and form of involvement:

	Trade unions	Employers' organisations
Role	No involvement	Consulted
Form	Not applicable	Consultation through tripartite or bipartite social dialogue bodies

Social partners' role in the implementation, monitoring and assessment phase:

• Only employers' organisations
• Main level of involvement: Sectoral or branch level

Involvement

The measure was created on the initiative of employers organisations and business organisations in the agricultural sector. On 12 July 2023, the organisations appealed to Prime Minister Kaja Kallas to support the declaration of a state of emergency due to adverse weather conditions. The employers organisations and business organisations involved where the following: Central Union of Estonian Farmers, the Estonian Chamber of Agriculture and Commerce, the Estonian Beef Cattle Breeders' Society, the Estonian Gardening Association, the Estonian Livestock Breeders' Association and the Estonian Young Farmers' NGO. Trade unions were not involved. Besides this, there is no readily available evidence that social partners contribute to the measure in any other way.

Views and reactions

The measure was the initiative of the employers' organisations. In the letter of appeal sent on 12 July 2023, the organisations emphasised that due to spring frosts and drought, a serious situation had arisen in the Estonian agricultural sector, which threatens this year's harvest. The rainy period in July was not able to improve the situation, because the growth phase that lays the foundation for a good yield of plants had already passed and the seeds did not sprout at all.

The declaration of a state of emergency due to adverse weather conditions provides the necessary legal basis to introduce measures that help mitigate the crisis and its consequences, and in particular gives PRIA (Agricultral Registers and Information Board) the opportunity not to sanction agricultural producers for non-fulfillment of obligations in the exceptional situation. According to a representative of the employers organisations, the declaration of an emergency situation sends a clear message that the government stands by the agricultural sector and supports Estonian food production and security, giving farmers the opportunity to continue their activities and maintain the vitality of rural areas.

Sectors and occupations

This case is not occupation-specific.

Sources

• 12 July 2023: Põllumehed ja loomakasvatajad taotlesid eriolukorda (epkk.ee)
• 21 September 2023: Põllumajandussektorile makstakse erakorralist toetust (www.agri.ee)
• 15 November 2023: Regionaalminister toetab muutlikust ilmast enim mõjutatud põllumajandustootjaid 3,5 miljoni euroga (www.agri.ee)