Background information

In August 2023, the extreme weather event 'Hans', which affected areas of southern Norway, as well as parts of Sweden, Finland, the Baltics, and nearby regions, led to extensive flood and landslide damage in eastern Norway. In the aftermath, the Norwegian government published information on financial arrangements to cushion the effects of extreme weather. In September 2023, the government decided production failure and damaged crops due to extreme weather in 2023, should be compensated under the existing scheme for agricultural production failure.

Content of measure

The Ministry of Agriculture and Food informed 19 September 2023 about new financial support measures after the extreme weather. The scheme for subsidies in the event of production failure had been adjusted for the year 2023. Grain that is rejected at the grain reception or is not paid for because of poor quality ('zero settlement') should not be included in the harvested crop when subsidies for production failure are to be calculated. The aim is to improve the situation for farmers whose grain crops have been destroyed by the bad weather conditions during the summer 2023. Under the production failure scheme, producers can apply for a grant in case of production failure that includes berries, fruit, vegetables, grain and other seed to maturity, potatoes, roughage in enterprises with livestock og sales production. Only damages caused by climatic conditions are granted a subsidy. To qualify for a subsidy, the yield in the year the damage occurred must be below 70% of the growth group's average yield. This establishes a risk threshold of 30%. The production failure must have a climatic cause against which it is not possible to hedge.

Use of measure

No information on the use of the measure.

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	National funds

Social partners

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

	Trade unions	Employers' organisations
Role	Unknown	Unknown
Form	Not applicable	Not applicable

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

• Unknown
• Main level of involvement: N/A

Involvement

Schemes for grants and subsidies to agriculture are usually established after consultation with the sector's agricultural associations. There is no information about the social partners' participation in the establishment of the scheme.

Views and reactions

No information.

Sectors and occupations

This case is not occupation-specific.

Sources

• 19 September 2023: New financial support measures after the extreme weather (www.regjeringen.no)
• 19 September 2023: Subsidy in case of production failure (www.landbruksdirektoratet.no)