Extreme weather conditions such as drought or the winter floods of 2023/24 are also occurring more frequently in Lower Saxony due to global warming and can significantly reduce agricultural incomes or even threaten livelihoods. Against this background, the rural population welcomes the new funding offer from the state of Lower Saxony, with which farmers can for the first time receive subsidies for taking out “multi-risk insurance” for the 2025 harvest year.
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Applications can from next Monday (26 August) to the end of September at the Lower Saxony Chamber of Agriculture (LWK). The subsidy is up to 50% of the insurance premium and is limited to a maximum of 25,000 eurost. An initial amount of EUR 15 million will be available until 2029, financed from EU funds.
Be supported Income loss insurance for various crops on arable and grassland areas, Berry, pome and stone fruit cultivation as well as carrots and onionsThe cultivated areas to be insured must be in Lower Saxony, Bremen or Hamburg. Insurance against yield losses due to storms, heavy rain, floods, severe frost and dryness/drought is eligible. “Damage caused by hail is not included,” explains Landvolk Vice President Jörn Ehlers. “Given the limited service portfolio and the limited funding, the offer is a test,” explains Ehlers. “The prerequisite is that the insurance companies actually offer suitable and affordable solutions.”
As a result of global warming, rural populations are expecting an increase in threatening crop failures. “So far, the EU’s direct income support has helped to cope with this, but its income impact is increasingly being lost due to cost-driving requirements and cuts,” explains Ehlers. State-supported insurance solutions against loss of earnings intensively discussed in the State Farmers’ Association. This particularly concerns the future direction of the EU’s Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) from 2027. “The much-vaunted rewarding of social services, for example for environmental services, does not protect against weather risks, and the issue of risk management is left out of the equation,” the farmer points out. “In the area of animal husbandry, too, subsidized insurance against risks from animal diseases could be another building block for a more crisis-proof agricultural sector,” Ehlers suggests in conclusion. (LPD)
