Official Agricultural Disaster
60 million euros for extreme weather in Belgium
The Flemish government is making €60 million available to compensate agricultural entrepreneurs for the damage they have had to their crops this season. Both the night frosts during the spring and the persistent drought caused damage. On Monday 25 September, the Flemish government officially characterized both weather phenomena as disasters.
First it was Bench? agricultural disaster and then anyway † These messages followed one another in July. If a damage threshold of at least €1,24 million was reached, farmers were eligible for compensation. This threshold has been amply reached.
This was partly due to drought and partly to night frost. This has caused a significant loss of yield, especially in fruit cultivation. Joke Schauvliege, the Flemish Minister of Agriculture, announced the news on Monday 25 September. "The budgetary impact is €60 million," she says. News site Vilt.be writes about this.
Reimbursement for all crops
The whole of Flanders has now been designated a disaster area, so that all agricultural entrepreneurs in the Dutch-speaking part of Belgium can claim compensation. This is also paid for damage to arable crops, animal feed, fruit and tree nurseries.
The maximum compensation is €114.700 per company. The agriculture minister says that the payments will be made as soon as possible. The compensation only applies to Flanders. It was also very dry in Wallonia, but nothing has been announced for this region yet.
Damage irreparable
The night frost caused the first blow at the end of April. The apple harvest in Flanders is estimated to be almost 70% smaller. That of pears 7%. A weather phenomenon that, according to the RMI, occurs once every 20 years. Due to a mild winter, the damage to fruit trees was extra large. Subsequently, in April, May and June, the arable and vegetable crops were severely affected by drought. Crops have dried up or have suffered irreparable growth retardation. Partly because it was not allowed to rain.
3 months before submission
Agricultural representative Boerenbond is satisfied. "The Flemish government recognizes that agriculture and horticulture cannot fully control production conditions," says Boerenbond chairman Sonja de Becker. "We now have to wait for the publication of the decisions in the Belgian Official Gazette. From this date, a period of 3 months applies, during which compensation must be submitted to the Department of Agriculture and Fisheries."
Niels van der Boom
© DCA Market Intelligence. This market information is subject to copyright. It is not permitted to reproduce, distribute, disseminate or make the content available to third parties for compensation, in any form, without the express written permission of DCA Market Intelligence.