Fertiliser prices are climbing, and the harvest will not wait. The European Commission is letting member states get cash to farmers faster, before the price spike hits next year’s crops. How quickly governments act will decide how much Europe grows next year, and at what cost.
Brussels has just tipped the scales again. Only weeks after the Council eased farmers’ liquidity pressure through a related regulation, the Commission adopted amendments to the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) today. The changes give governments faster, more flexible ways to get farmers the cash they need for fertiliser. The aim: keep prices from squeezing supply, ease the pressure on farm budgets now, and protect Europe’s food security before the harvest is at stake.
The package rests on three pillars. A new liquidity scheme will unlock rural development funding for farmers under pressure. Earlier direct payments will ease cashflow before autumn planting. And governments will get more room to redirect their own funds where fertiliser costs bite hardest.
Faster cash for stretched farmers
The liquidity scheme runs through rural development funding, with co-financing reaching 65 per cent from the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development (EAFRD). Member states can also tap unspent funds that would otherwise be lost, and add national financing worth up to 200 per cent on top.
To keep the money moving fast, support can be paid as a flat rate per hectare through national CAP Strategic Plans. That means no lengthy paperwork and no waiting for individual assessments.
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A second measure lets governments pay farmers’ direct payments early, before 16 October, at a higher advance rate than usual. For many farms, that timing matters more than the amount: fertiliser and pesticides often have to be bought and paid for well before the harvest brings in any income.
A third change gives governments more flexibility from 2027 onwards, letting them adjust how much of their direct payments budget goes toward tackling high fertiliser prices, depending on national circumstances. The goal is to help states target aid to farmers faster and more precisely.
Fertiliser response
These CAP changes build on a wider push. The Commission has already pledged €540m financial support package in the Fertilisers Action Plan, adopted on 27 July, to cushion farmers against fertiliser and energy shocks. Together, the two moves aim to shield Europe’s food security, strategic autonomy and competitiveness from future crises.
The real test is whether they use it fast enough to reach farmers before the next harvest.
For Brussels, fertiliser prices are not a side issue. If costs stay too high, farmers buy less, yields drop, and the effects ripple through incomes and supply. The Commission has now handed governments more room to act. The real test is whether they use it fast enough to reach farmers before the next harvest.
