The Government allocates more than 64 million euros to 36,882 farmers in Castile and Leon to offset the consequences of the drought and war in Ukraine

● A total of 139,756 farmers producing drylands, rice and tomato for industry will benefit from the payment of this aid in all autonomous communities to compensate for the difficulties arising from the drought and war in Ukraine ● This aid, amounting to about 269 million euros, is financed by the General State Budgets

February 5, 2024.- The Government, through the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, has published the provisional list with the 36,882 farms in Castilla y León that produce dry land, rice and tomato industry, which will be able to receive extraordinary aid to compensate for the difficulties arising from the drought and the consequences of the war in Ukraine in the amount of 64,095,333 euros.

This aid, established by Royal Decree-Law 4/2023, of 11 May, amounts to 268,709,996 euros for all the autonomous communities and will benefit a total of 139,756 farmers throughout Spain. The beneficiaries will be natural or legal persons or entities without legal personality, holders of agricultural holdings that are eligible for the receipt of direct aid from the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) in the 2023 season and that:

• account for rain-fed farmland on their farm, excluding temporary pastures.
• They have irrigated farmlands in areas of traditional rice cultivation.
• They have a certain area for the help associated with the cultivation of industrial tomato in the latest campaigns.

The number of eligible hectares for this aid has been determined ex officio by the Spanish Agricultural Guarantee Fund (FEGA) according to the criteria established in Order APA/871/2023, of July 20, which develops the aforementioned royal decree-law.

The eligible area of rain-growing land corresponds to the hectares of land, excluding temporary pastures, determined for the receipt of direct aid corresponding to the single application of the CAP 2023. In the case of the Autonomous Community of the Canary Islands, the number of hectares listed in the Register of Agricultural Farms (REGEPA) as of June 30, 2023 has been taken as a reference.

For these rain-growing lands, a maximum of 300 eligible hectares per beneficiary has been established.

The eligible areas of rice and tomato from industry correspond to the area where no sowing of these crops was carried out in 2023.

In this link on the EAGGF website, a FAQ document prepared specifically for this aid can be found, which explains, among other things, the calculation of eligible areas for each type of product and is illustrated by various examples.

Support amounts

The final unit amounts established by the EAGGF, based on the provisional list of benefits and areas published in the provisional resolution, reach the following values:

1. €39,880605 per eligible hectare for farms that have the majority of their area of rain-fed farmland, excluding temporary pasture, declared in the 2023 season in the provinces classified as areas of high drought affectation.
2. €19,940303 per eligible hectare, for farms that have the majority of their area of rain-fed land, excluding temporary pasture, declared in the 2023 season in the provinces classified as an area of medium drought affectation.
3. For rice producers, a unit amount of 186,109491 euros per eligible hectare is established.
4. For industrial tomato producers, a unit amount of 407,668408 euros per eligible hectare is established.

No aid is granted to beneficiaries whose total amount to be received is less than 200 euros.

Areas of affectation

The areas of high affectation for the rain-growing lands established in Order APA/871/2023 are the autonomous communities of Andalusia, Aragon, Castilla-La Mancha, Catalonia, Madrid, Comunitat Valenciana, Extremadura, La Rioja, Murcia and Navarra, and the provinces of Álava, Ávila, Salamanca and Segovia, as well as the enclave of Treviño (Burgos).

The areas of medium affectation are the autonomous communities of the Balearic and Canary Islands, and the provinces of Burgos (except the Enclave of Treviño), León, Palencia, Soria, Valladolid and Zamora.

Consultation of agricultural holdings

The provisional list of farmers eligible for support, together with the number of eligible hectares of dry, rice and tomato farmland for industry and the amount of support to be received, can be found on the farm’s bulletin board. EAGGF electronic headquarters.

The aid is allocated to the autonomous community in which the single application of CAP 2023 is managed, so in the table appears some community that is not among the areas affected by drought (Cantabria).

The interested parties have a period of 10 working days (from the day following its publication) to make claims of rejection of the aid, opposition to the consultation of their tax obligations and with Social Security (which will have the same effect as the rejection of the aid), or errors, omissions or other circumstances that they deem appropriate. The claims must be presented exclusively through the form in the EAGGF electronic headquarters. It is advisable to carefully read the FAQ document already mentioned.