The Ministry of Agriculture has submitted amendments to Latvia’s Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) Strategic Plan for 2023–2027 to the European Commission (EC), providing for an increase of EUR 35.25 million in direct payment funding in 2027. This will bring the total funding available for direct payments in 2027 to EUR 398 million.
The increase in direct payment funding is made possible by an EU regulation that entered into force on July 22nd and allows Member States to provide additional support to farmers to mitigate the impact of crises, including rising mineral fertiliser prices.
Most of the additional funding is planned to be allocated to three eco-schemes – support for agricultural practices beneficial to the environment and climate, conservation farming practices and the use of precision fertilisation technologies. These eco-schemes help maintain soil fertility, promote conservation tillage and encourage more efficient use of fertilisers, thereby helping to reduce the impact of high mineral fertiliser prices on agricultural production.
The additional funding will make it possible to increase payment rates under these eco-schemes. Since 2023, farmers’ interest in the schemes has been higher than expected, meaning that actual payment rates have not reached the levels originally planned in the CAP Strategic Plan. Additional funding is also needed because agricultural production costs remain high. Compared with the pre-crisis period, mineral fertiliser costs in 2026 have increased by around 68%, while the overall cost of agricultural inputs has risen by more than 40%.
The additional funding for eco-schemes will also have a positive impact on payment rates under Basic Income Support for Sustainability (BISS) and redistributive income support. BISS payment rates will increase by around EUR 5 per hectare, as funding will no longer need to be transferred from BISS to eco-schemes to ensure minimum payment rates. The redistributive payment for areas between 30.01 and 100 hectares will also be increased, taking into account the regulatory requirement to allocate at least 10% of funding to redistributive payments and support for small farmers.
Latvia submitted the amendments to the CAP Strategic Plan to the EC on August 28th, 2026. They will enter into force after EC approval.