The government has adopted a model of reform for the EU's common agricultural policy in Slovenia in the 2007-2013 period, opting for a regional payments scheme with production-tied subsidies.
"We have selected the model that is best suited for most Slovenian farm holdings," Agriculture Minister Marija Lukacic told the press after the cabinet session on Thursday.
Lukacic acknowledged that a pure regional scheme would have been better for goat and sheep breeders, but they account for only 6% of the farms so the option favouring cattle breeders was chosen.
"Nine out of ten farms are livestock farms, of which 60% are pure cattle farms. This meant that we had to construct a model which will ensure production at these farms continues," she explained.
Stane Kavcic of the Ljubljana Faculty of Biotehnology agreed with Lukacic, saying that nobody is losing with this model. "It is true, however, that extensive livestock farmers would have gained much more with the pure regional scheme."
The model includes uniform regional subsidies for fields and meadows, combined with permitted production-tied payments for bulls, oxen, goats and sheep, as well as hops.
There will also be historic-based payments for milk and and sugar beet, for the rescue of sectors in trouble (cattle breeding), provisions for special cases (new farmers), and additional payments for new agriculture methods and quality improvement.
A special premium equivalent to 75% of the subsidies in the EU15 will be preserved for bulls and oxen, while the rate will be 50% for sheep and goats and 25% for hops.
The model moreover introduces production-untied payments for fields (332 euros per hectare) and meadows (137 euros), Lukacic said.
There will also be a premium for sugar beet, which however is not a part of the reform. Instead, it was introduced as a special restructuring fund to help sugar beet farmers shift to other crops, the minister said.
These farmers will receive annual compensation starting with 375 euros per hectare and rising to about 550 euros by 2009. The farmers will get the compensation until 2013.
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