Farmers are themselves to blame for their woes
Slovak farmers have pitifully low productivity, and can’t blame low agricultural subsidies. Slovak farmers mainly grow simple crops (wheat and oil seeds) and ignore other crops, fruits, and vegetables. In 2016, Slovak farmers received an average subsidy of €255 per ha and had value added of €314 per ha. In the EU, the figures averaged €301 and €928. Only Baltic countries have lower value added than Slovakia. Polish and Hungarian farmers have twice as high value added, while their subsidies are only marginally higher. A hectare of wheat only produces annual sales of €1,000, but a hectare of greenhouse tomatoes brings €0.5m. Slovakia lacks slaughterhouses as well as canning and freezing facilities. One of the outcomes is low employment levels. Slovak farmers receive an €85,000 annual subsidy per farmer, while the EU average is €40,000.
