A new element has been added to the support for pig farmers and breeders

(Photo: Pixabay)

For this reason, among other things, we have announced an extraordinary 4 billion forint agricultural small-amount support program for breeding sow farmers, and at the end of last year we increased the annual budget of the breeding sow animal welfare program by 500 million forints – announced István Nagy, Minister of Agriculture, on his social media page.

The minister highlighted that the domestic pig sector has faced continuous challenges in recent years

Pig farming is a key sector of Hungarian animal husbandry, which plays an important role in both domestic supply and export markets. Its operation is significantly influenced not only by domestic circumstances, but also by European and global market processes. In recent times, the effects of climate change – especially drought – and the rise in input and energy prices have made the sector’s situation more difficult. In addition, maintaining the domestic pig population free from African swine fever is an important task.

The minister emphasized that the government is working with all means to ensure that the pig sector can operate in a stable, predictable environment and stand on firm footing in the long term

Of the subsidies financed from the national budget, 10.2 billion forints are available for pig fattening animal welfare support this year as well. The annual budget for the breeding sow animal welfare program has increased by HUF 500 million (to HUF 8.3 billion), and livestock keepers are being helped with an extraordinary, HUF 4 billion agricultural small-amount support program, for which a total of more than 550 applications have been received. The applications are being processed. A budget of HUF 12.5 billion is available for the eradication of animal diseases, he added. He also mentioned that in order to offset the oversupply in the pig market, the government has created the possibility for damaged producers and farmers involved in pig farming and breeding to benefit from a loan moratorium. In addition, interest-free and cost-free loans help breeders, a 100 percent interest subsidy was announced within the framework of the MFB Agricultural Working Capital Loan Program 2025, and this week, at the initiative of the Ministry of Agriculture, the new substructure of the Agricultural Széchenyi Card was launched.

AM