Hungary: two agricultural corporations among the top CAP earners

Hungarian agriculture corporations among top CAP subsidy earners in 2014-2020 cycle

A new study by the European Parliament has provided detailed insight into the the division of subsidies from the Common Agriculture Policy (CAP)  among EU member states.On the list of top subsidy earners among limited liability companies, Bonafarm Zrt. came in  7th   in both 2018 and 2019. Mezort Zrt. was the 13th and 10^th largest recipient among limited liability companies in 2018 and 2019, respectively.

Bonafarm is the holding company of the largest Hungarian agricultural and food manufacture group. It is owned by Sándor Csányi, who is in the leadership of two of Hungary’s multinational companies: He is the CEO of OTP bank, which is active throughout Central and also Eastern Europe, and he is also on the board of the petrol company MOL Group. MOL Group is the company that won the concession on waste management and among others, maintains the handling of the deposit-incurring single-use beverage packages through its new subsidiary, Mohu Zrt.

Mezort Zrt. was previously within the portfolio of Lajos Simicska, former senior Fidesz party member who had a public falling out with Prime Minister Viktor Orbán in 2015. In 2018, the ownership of the company changed, the new owner being former gas repairman and business mogul Lőrinc Mészáros, one of Hungary’s most wealthy people and a personal friend of Mr. Orbán.

Commissioner-designate Várhelyi fails hearing

Politico reported this week that Hungary’s commissioner-designate, Olivér Várhelyi, did not win the approval of the Committee on the Environment, Public Health and Food Safety in his hearing. This was due to the fact that Mr. Várhelyi was not able convince the majority to confirm his candidacy. This means that the candidate will have to go through a second round of written questions. Mr. Várhelyi is the commissioner-designate for the Health and Animal Welfare portfolio.

Before the news broke of the outcome, early on Thursday, Agrárszektor.hu published an on-site report from Mr. Várhelyi’s Wednesday evening hearing. Olivér Várhelyi talked about the phasing out of caged poultry farming, further reducing antibiotic use in livestock, and implementing stricter animal transport regulations, according to the portal. The Commissioner-designate stated that he sees farmers as partners and considers the ethical debates surrounding lab-grown meat understandable and acceptable, “as long as Member States have the option to opt out.” Várhelyi also declared that strict EU food safety and animal welfare regulations should be required from third countries supplying food, “which would represent a radically new direction compared to current practices.”

Food Bank Association: Nestlé and Tesco raise €317 thousand for charity

As part of a charity campaign announced in May, Nestlé offered 1% of the value of Nestlé products sold in Hungarian Tesco stores for charitable purposes. Tesco doubled this amount. In the joint campaign, 639,297 Nestlé products were sold in Tesco stores, allowing the two companies to support the Food Bank's work with €31.7 thousand.

The Food Bank Association reported on Monday that they used the donation to put together a hundred thousand donation packages from rescued food products for those in need, with a total value of €975.4 thousand. These packages typically contain products that are close to expiration, have minor packaging defects, but are of excellent quality and perfectly suitable for consumption, the foundation reports. These food items are collected daily from stores and food manufacturers. The packages will be donated to those in need.

Avian influenza situation becomes more intense

This week, Agrárágazat.hu reported on the increasing risk of Avian influenza in Hungary. The portal wrote that the latest cases were identified in the end of October in separate poultry farms in Bács-Kiskun County, in Central Hungary. The disease was identified in a flock of laying hens and a flock of mulard ducks at the two farms, respectively.

Additionally, in Hajdú-Bihar County, which was already affected, the presence of the H5N1 subtype of the highly pathogenic Avian influenza virus was confirmed by the National Food Chain Safety Office (NÉBIH) in a farm housing mulard ducks and fattening geese, and in Békés County in a laying hen flock. The authorities have ordered the culling of nearly 220,000 poultry livestock in the affected farms to prevent further spread of the outbreak.

Following these outbreaks, symptoms indicative of Avian influenza were also observed among the animals at a laying hen farm in Soltszentimre, Bács-Kiskun County, as well as in a mulard duck flock in Bugac.

The large number of new outbreaks is further evidence of the severity of the epidemic situation, the authority reports, and therefore, NÉBIH once again urges poultry farmers to pay close attention to the safety of their animals and strictly adhere to biosecurity measures.

The oldest generation of farmers still holds on out of necessity

MezőHír.hu reports that the oldest generation of farmers can’t retire because of a combination of factors. Agricultural production is becoming more concentrated, but due to legislative regulations and subsidy policies, medium-sized arable crop or horticultural farms dominate the domestic agricultural sector. Fewer people are working in the industry, with the oldest age group holding on likely out of necessity, the portal writes.

We have reported last week on the decade-long declining number of farmers in Hungary. MezőHír’s report adds that, while the number of farmers has decreased across all age groups, the most significant decline over the past 10 years occurred in the 55–64 age group, whose numbers dropped from 91 thousand to 45 thousand. Younger age groups also saw a substantial decline. The oldest age group holds on the hardest. The proportion of farm managers aged over 65 has increased from 29% to 37% over the past decade, with the highest proportion of older managers in Békés County at 43%.

The agricultural workforce has decreased by 13% compared to 2020 and by 40% compared to 2013. The labor usage in individual farms decreased by 21%, while companies saw a 3.2% increase. In 2013, family members carried out 65% of agricultural work at farms, but by 2023, this had dropped to just 48%.