- In Damian Kacprzak’s view, the priority in implementing the strategy for the pig market should be to launch low-interest loans for building facilities with permits, because new investments are being blocked by improperly drafted general plans and low production profitability
- The industry does not want more non-repayable grants. It proposes low-cost loans with the possibility of partial forgiveness and emphasizes the need to treat farmers who finance investments commercially equally
- Damian Kacprzak will take part in a debate at National Challenges in Agriculture, which will be held on 18 November at Legia Stadium in Warsaw. Register for the event!
- Check the conference program
Let us recall: an outline of the long-announced strategy for the pig market was presented as early as mid-June. In early October, representatives of the Polish Pork Forum—a group of industry organizations involved in implementing the plan—met with Minister Stefan Krajewski to present the document. Since then, there has been a kind of silence on the strategy:
- I have unofficially learned that the strategy is currently being reviewed by individual departments of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development. We hope this will translate into concrete actions, says Damian Kacprzak.
Investments already underway need to be launched
As he adds, the current priority is to implement the provision in the strategy calling for farmers to be granted low-interest loans to finance the construction of facilities that have already been granted building permits:
- The implementation of new projects is currently almost completely blocked because of flawed spatial plans in municipalities, while investors who already have permits are holding off on investments due to the extremely poor profitability of production and the enormous costs involved. At the current level of profitability, many farmers are unable to take on the investment risk. Without this kind of support, projects that have already been started will not be able to be completed, says Damian Kacprzak.
As he adds, the number of projects started in this way is not large, and the expenditure incurred on such loans is absolutely real:
- I think around 200 million zlotys would be enough to get started. It would be an initial boost that would not place a huge burden on the budget, while also showing the industry that the state recognizes the problem and is starting to take action. Later, funds from the new financial perspective could be used. Before they become available, however, a way must be found to start the investment now – says the farmer.
The industry does not support non-repayable aid
Damian Kacprzak also stipulates that the industry does not support “handing out” money in the form of one-off, non-repayable grants.
- We cannot keep returning to successive aid programs and handing out multi-million grants for the construction of buildings. A system of very low-interest loans, possibly supplemented by partial principal forgiveness, would be a much better solution. A farmer should be given a tool to carry out an investment, but at the same time must assess whether their business model will be economically viable, he stresses
Here I give the example of farms that invested using commercial loans and are now having serious problems repaying them because production is not profitable enough.
- We cannot allow a situation in which some farmers build using their own money and bear the full risk, while others then receive 60-percent subsidies for similar investments. That would simply be unfair. We need to approach the matter rationally. We should give farmers a fishing rod and show them where the lake is, but ultimately they must make the decision themselves and assess their own capabilities, says the farmer.
Damian Kacprzak will be one of the participants in the debate at National Challenges in Agriculture, which will take place on 18 November in Warsaw. Register for the event today!
