Background information

The support is intended to livestock farms (dairy and beef cattle, sheep, goats and horses) to partly cover the costs of purchasing fodder. The support is regulated by Cabinet Regulation No 641 on Rules on granting emergency support from the European Union to farmers in the fruit and berry, dairy and beef cattle, sheep, goat and horse breeding sectors. The support is granted in accordance with Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2023/1465 of 14 July 2023 providing exceptional financial assistance for agricultural sectors affected by specific problems affecting the economic viability of agricultural producers.

Content of measure

Farmers who have a herd of dairy or beef cattle, sheep, goats or horses registered with the Agricultural Data Centre on 1 October 2023 and the animals have been registered, identified and reported in accordance with the regulatory enactments on the identification and registration of livestock are eligible for livestock support. For livestock holdings, the support is granted on the basis of notional livestock units and the applicant must meet at least one of the following criteria:

• the farm's income from agricultural activities in the period from 1 January to 30 September 2023 is at least 20% less than 75% of the declared income from agricultural activities in 2022;
• the farms income from farming per average notional livestock unit in the period from 1 January to 30 September 2023 are at least 20% less than 75% of the income in the period from 1 January to 30 September 2022;
• the number of notional livestock units on 1 October 2023 has decreased by at least 20% compared to 1 October 2022;
• the farms income during the period from 1 January to 30 September 2023 per kilogram of milk delivered are at least 20% less than 75% of the same income in 2022;
• the farms income during the period from 1 January to 30 September 2023 per unit of notional livestock are at least 20% less than 75% of the income in 2022.

The planned budget for the support measure is at least €3,784,780.

Use of measure

This support is granted to 4.5 thousand livestock holdings for around 191 thousand notional livestock units, representing 62.6% of the total number of notional livestock units eligible for the sector. All the funding provided is used.

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

Social partners

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

	Trade unions	Employers' organisations
Role	No involvement	No involvement
Form	Not applicable	Not applicable

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

• No involvement
• Main level of involvement: N/A

Involvement

No involvement by social partners.

Views and reactions

No specific views to report.

Sectors and occupations

This case is not occupation-specific.

Sources

• 07 November 2023: Rules on granting emergency support from the European Union to farmers in the fruit and berry, dairy and beef cattle, sheep, goat and horse breeding sectors (likumi.lv)
• 08 November 2023: European Union emergency aid to farmers in the fruit and berries, milk and beef, sheep, goats and horses sectors (www.lad.gov.lv)
• 26 January 2024: Ministry of Agriculture continues active support measures for farmers (www.zm.gov.lv)