Latvia declares state of emergency in agriculture until November

The Latvian government, at an extraordinary meeting on Tuesday, decided to declare a state of emergency in agriculture throughout the country until November 4, 2025. The goal is to compensate farmers for losses suffered by frost, rain and floods. According to the Ministry of Agriculture, farmers have long-term financial obligations and contracts with partners, but due to adverse weather conditions there is a risk of non-fulfillment of these obligations, which could affect exports, in particular grain, which is a key segment of Latvian agricultural exports.

The state of emergency will allow farmers to avoid fines from credit institutions, maintain solvency and continue production in the next season. Farmers can apply to the State Revenue Service with a request to postpone payments on overdue taxes for a period of up to one year or voluntarily fulfill them for three years. Spring frosts seriously damaged fruit and berry crops, and prolonged rains and floods in the summer worsened the situation, causing additional damage. Excessive soil moisture makes it impossible to use agricultural machinery, which prevents the cultivation of fields and harvesting.

Due to excessive moisture, cereals, legumes, potatoes and other crops rotted before they could yield a harvest. In some regions, sowing work has not even begun, and the fields remain uncultivated. Spring sowing was delayed, and due to the limited duration of the growing season, a significant part of the areas will remain unsown. According to the Ministry of Agriculture, by July 10, 2025, farmers reported 51.5 thousand hectares of affected or unsown areas, and preliminary losses are estimated at 63.886 million euros. In particular, 49.4 thousand hectares of crops were affected by the rains, and more than 6 thousand hectares remained unsown.

The most affected crops were oats, spring and winter wheat, peas and perennial grasses, with preliminary losses of 43.686 million euros. Spring frosts damaged 2.1 thousand hectares of fruit crops, including apple trees, pears, blueberries, currants and sea buckthorn, with total losses of 20.2 million euros. The Ministry of Agriculture has appealed to the European Commission to compensate Latvian farmers for losses from the EU budget, stressing that adverse weather conditions have been threatening the viability of many farms for the third year in a row.

Tags: Latvia