New animal welfare grants worth HUF 42.5 billion

(Fotó: Pixabay)

In 2023, the Ministry of Agriculture again announced the call for “Animal welfare support accompanying the restructuring of the dairy sector” for actors in the dairy cattle sector. The application provides non-refundable support for compliance with commitments that go beyond legal requirements for the benefit of animals. With the help of the scheme, the beneficiaries were able to make commitments regarding the provision of natural conditions and feeding as optional obligations in addition to the mandatory obligations regarding animal density, additional caretaker supervision, and milking technology and preventive interventions. For the fulfillment of these, they can receive a subsidy of up to 284 euro/UAE/year for cows and 222 euro/UAE/year for heifers and calves.

The commitment period of the support is 20 months, which lasts from May 1, 2023 to December 31, 2024

Beneficiaries can first submit a payment request for the support within the framework of this year’s unified application. The Ministry of Agriculture has approved nearly 550 support applications in the past few days, the awarded support – projected over the entire 20-month support period – is approximately HUF 42.5 billion. Beneficiaries can receive their supporting documents in the coming weeks. Livestock farmers – including dairy cattle farmers – can also count on animal welfare subsidies in the coming years. Parallel to the closing of the Rural Development Program, the Ministry of Agriculture is continuously working on calls for tenders for the next period’s development program, the KAP Strategic Plan.

AM