As of: January 30, 2024, 11:59 a.m
By: Friedbert Holz
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Expert Michael Mederle (r.) explained the multiple application to 150 farmers.
© Wood
It's a buzz word among farmers: multiple applications.
Anyone who fills it out and publishes data about their company can receive funding, but in return they have to make certain commitments.
This approach, fraught with bureaucracy and, according to some farmers, pitfalls, is unpopular and requires clarification.
Kirchasch - That's why the Maschinenring Erding invited an expert on the topic to the Gasthaus Bauer in Kirchasch: Michael Mederer from Neuburg an der Donau cleared up the misunderstandings in front of around 150 members.
The senior association advisor to the Bavarian Machinery Rings himself comes from a pig breeding business.
Agriculture is supported by the EU and the state as part of the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP).
Ultimately, despite the smaller size of the company, it should be able to compete with many other European countries in the production of food and raw materials, keyword biomass as energy.
In order to receive funding, farmers undertake to comply with certain rules, known as conditionality, as part of the said multiple application.
These include, among other things, proper animal husbandry, storage of crop protection products, compliance with nitrate guidelines, feed safety and crop protection.
“From 2025 onwards, social conditionality will also be added,” explained Mederer.
Since this year, farmers have also had to set aside four percent of their arable land in order to contribute to ecology and species protection.
Since this area cannot be used for production and no compensation is paid for this loss, farmers are taking to the barricades.
In addition, they say, these fallow areas would become weedy and would later have to be laboriously cultivated in order to be able to use them again for agricultural purposes.
In addition, the 2023 agricultural reform reduced services to farmers by around 25 percent, but on the other hand they incur higher production costs due to erosion protection requirements or the new fertilizer regulations.
“For many of you, the question now arises as to whether the additional effort caused by documentation as part of the multiple application is even covered by the funding,” the expert put his finger in the wound.
After all, it is no secret that any company that does not submit an application to the Office for Food, Agriculture and Forestry (AELF) will not be inspected, including with regard to four percent closure.
After all, Mederer calculated based on three example farms, it is worth submitting multiple applications despite four percent less usable space: “For a 50-hectare farm, the outlay is around 4,000 euros, but the possible bonus is almost 11,000 euros .
A farm with 35 hectares has expenses of around 2,700 euros to 7,700 euros in funding, and for a mixed farm with livestock and arable farming, the costs and subsidies are around 7,000 to almost 16,000 euros.
Even taking into account the tax to be paid, there is always a bonus,” explained Mederer.
Anyone who submits multiple applications also benefits from certification, for example if they deliver grain to BayWa.
“Some dairies even make it a condition that they only purchase milk from companies that work in accordance with the conditions of such an application.
And even the banks often link lending to sustainability requirements and follow green taxonomy” (we recently reported).
“Anyone who now wants direct payments must adhere to the funding law, the technical law anyway,” said Mederer, “otherwise there could be severe penalties.”
He advises all farmers to think carefully about what operational effects it could have if multiple applications are not submitted to the AELF.
Then every farmer would have to provide specific information during an on-site audit - "It's best if you get along well with the inspectors," recommended the expert.