High-quality farms are necessary for livestock farmers to be competitive

(Photo: AM/István Fekete)

Minister of Agriculture István Nagy emphasized at the inauguration of the facility on Thursday that the government is committed to preserving the balance between animal husbandry and crop cultivation. In the Rural Development Program, more than HUF 196 billion in grants have been awarded to 1,742 applications for site development. The minister added that in the management year starting at the beginning of May 2022, the subsidy amounts have increased significantly. If a beneficiary undertook all obligations, he could receive an annual subsidy of 284 euros per animal. István Nagy said that based on the Common Agricultural Policy (KAP) Strategic Plan, there will be investment, epidemic prevention, gene preservation and animal welfare subsidies until 2027. Another important goal of the plan is to support green investments, i.e. to increase the energy self-sufficiency of processing plants.

To achieve the goals, at least 400 billion HUF development resources are expected to be allocated in the food sector

Zsolt Csorba, CEO of Solum Zrt., said that the Bavarian-owned Sano group of companies bought Solum Zrt. in Komárom in 2020, and since then a total of HUF 22 billion have been spent on investments at their locations. Since the takeover, the number of dairy cows has increased by nearly 20 percent, and milk production has increased by 12 percent. In addition to local vocational schools, Solum Zrt. cooperates with István Széchenyi University in the field of agricultural vocational training, regularly welcomes professionals interested in technology, and provides testing opportunities to companies that manufacture agricultural machinery – explained Zsolt Csorba. Solum Zrt. employs almost 200 people, according to publicly available company data, the company achieved HUF 6.2 billion in sales in 2021 and HUF 9.4 billion in 2022, with half of the revenue coming from animal husbandry. It ended last year with a pre-tax profit of HUF 324 million after a loss of HUF 152 million the previous year.

MTI