Future payment ceilings will affect between 2 to 3 thousand farmers

For the third time at a branch level, a meeting is organized to raise at least the curtain around the new Common Agricultural Policy (CAP), but it seems like the business will again be deluded with fairy tales without getting an adequate analysis of the effect of the current European support to the country’s agriculture. Or at least a promise that the ministry is working on a so-called strategic plan for the sector’s development after 2020, said Snoop. Already in August it became clear that today the National Association of Grain Producers will hold a series of debates on the future CAP, which will be attended by the representative organizations from the agro-sector. The business hopes the administration will answer questions about the new ceilings on direct payments as well as the implementation of environmental practices that are expected to affect far more farms and more widespread than they currently apply. However, the topic is too delicate to have clarity on it now. If the payment ceilings so far only affected the money earned under the Single Area Payment Scheme (SAPS), after 2020 the support for large farms will be cut so that instead of 150,000 euros under the SAPS, one farm will not receive more than 100 € 1000 from all direct payment schemes. This is not just about area money, but also about green payments, tied support and support for young farmers. In other words, there will be a progressive reduction in the entire package of direct payments a farm can receive in a given calendar year – the reduction will be between 60,000 and 100,000 euros, as well as the total suspension of over 100,000 euros. Originally, farmers and the administration thought that this cut would affect between 2 and 3,000 Bulgarian farmers, but it seems that this measure will cover a significant part of the registered farmers. It is no coincidence that Romanian politicians took a firm stand against the new ceilings. Many of the trade associations in Bulgaria also insist on preserving the current ceilings, but on official level, the representatives of the Ministry of Agriculture did not express such a position, commented Seorr.bg. The media is not invited to the discussion.

‘For the third time, a meeting was held at the branch level in order to raise at least the veil around the new common agricultural policy (CAP), but it seems that the business will again be soored with common talk, without obtaining an adequate analysis of the effect of The current European support for agriculture in the country. Or at least a promise that the ministry is working on the so-called strategic plan for the development of the sector after 2020 “, commented Synor.bg.

Back in August it became clear that today the National Association of Grain Producers will hold the sequence of а series of debates on the future CAP, where representative organizations from the agro-sector will be invited. The business hopes that the administration will respond to questions related to the new caps imposed on direct payments, as well as to the implementation of environmental practices, which are expected to affect many more farms and in a broader scope than are currently being applied. The subject, however, is too delicate to have clarity on it right now. If until now the payment ceilings concerned only the money received under the single area payment scheme, the support for the large-scale agricultural plots will be substantially lowered after 2020, so instead of being financed with up to 150,000 EUR by CAP, large -scale agricultural land owners will receive no more than 100,000 EUR altogether from all direct payment schemes.

The problem is not only about the funding for a specific agricultural area, but also about the green box payments, the support needed and the help for young farmers. In other words, there will be a progressive reduction in the whole package of direct payments that a farm can receive in a given calendar year – the reduction will be from 60 000 to 100 000 EUR, as well as their complete suspension over 100 000EUR. Initially, the owners and the administration thought that with this cut between 2,000 to 3.000 thousand Bulgarian farmers will be affected, but it seems that this measure will cover a significant part of the registered owners as well. Not surprisingly, Romanian politicians took a firm stance against the new ceilings. A large part of the branch associations in Bulgaria also insist on preserving the current ceilings, but at an official level the representatives of the Ministry of Agriculture have not expressed such a position, commented Synod.bg. Media has not been invited to participate in the discussion.’