New subsidies help dynamically developing Hungarian beef cattle farming

By: Trademagazin Date: 2025. 03. 07. 11:48

Among the livestock sectors, the beef cattle sector has produced the largest expansion in the past 25 years. In recent years, the demand for breeding animals has also been outstanding, said Deputy Minister Sándor Farkas, at the professional event entitled “Beef Cattle Breeding Conference” organized by the member associations of the Hungarian Cattle Breeders’ Association and the MATE Institute of Animal Sciences, on Thursday in Gödöllő.

In his presentation, he explained that there are numerous direct and national budget-financed subsidies available for the sector. The so-called “de minimis” subsidy for breeding bulls is a non-refundable subsidy aimed at improving the quality and production indicators of the Hungarian beef cattle herd. Livestock farmers can also apply for this in 2025, and the budget allocated for this is HUF 700 million.

Another new support title is the beef cattle animal welfare support – emphasized Deputy Minister Sándor Farkas. The 5-year budget of the title is 10 billion forints. The processing and evaluation of applications submitted in the summer of 2024 is in progress.

Thanks to the expertise of breeding organizations and the high-level work of farmers, the sector is producing increasingly better quality. In 2025, 1.8 billion forints are available in the form of national support to support breeding organization tasks that improve the competitiveness and chances of domestic breeding organizations and Hungarian livestock farmers.

The government considers improving the competitiveness of livestock farms to be a strategic issue. In 2024, two new calls for proposals were published with a total budget of 200 billion forints to support the site developments of livestock farms – including cattle farms – within the framework of the CAP Strategic Plan until 2027. A total of 1,857 applications for support were received for the two calls, requesting 860 billion forints in support, of which 1,070 applications concerned cattle farming, totaling 356 billion forints. The applications for support are currently being processed, Deputy Minister Sándor Farkas added.

In recent years, more than 1,500 cattle farming enterprises have been able to develop their farms with almost 165 billion forints in the Rural Development Program.

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