Understanding Priority Farms: Requirements and Benefits
This qualification may refer to an individual or a legal entity owning a farm with priority farming characteristics. This rating is essential for obtaining specific grants, benefits, and incentives, contingent upon meeting certain requirements.
Requirements for Individual Priority Farm Owners
A priority farm enables the occupation of at least one work unit (AWU), with the work unit rent being equal to or greater than 35% of the reference income and less than 12% of it, provided the holder meets the following criteria:
- Being a professional farmer (article 2.5 LMEA, as amended by the Sustainable Development Act).
- Possessing sufficient agricultural training, determined by conjugated piper school training and professional experience.
- Being between 18 and 65 years old.
- Being registered in the special agricultural social security or special arrangements for self-employed or independent individuals.
- Residing in the district where the farm is located or neighboring counties, except in cases of force majeure.
In the case of marriage, only one spouse needs to meet all requirements, even if both spouses own the farm. In the case of inherited undivided community property, if agreed upon for more than 6 years, only one community member needs to be eligible.
Priority Farms: Associative Structures
In addition to income and work requirements for family farms, associative structures must occupy at least one UTA, with the reference income being less than 35% and less than 12%. They must also operate in one of the following ways:
- Cooperative community farm land or work associated: By the mere fact of being legally established.
- Cooperative society, agrarian transformation and civil or commercial companies that are in any of these situations:
- Half of its members are professional farmers.
- 2/3 of members are responsible for the management of the company and meet the requirements for individual owners of priority farms, whether or not professional farmers. Furthermore, they also provide 2/3 of the work done on the farm.
- Formed by a group holding whose 2/3 parts are under one edge, without that 40% of the area provided, belongs to a single partner, also one of them, at least, must be a professional farmer.
Common Measures for Priority Farms
There are three common measures:
- Legal situations of choice.
- Tax benefits.
- Aid.
Legal Situations of Choice
Examples include allocation of land to government, subsidized agricultural insurance, access to training activities to improve professional qualification, aid for the improvement of priority agricultural holdings, aid programs included in the organization of production in certain areas, and legal preference in the allocation of quotas or production rights, as outlined in art. 7 LMEA.
Farm Land as Priority Farm
The Law of Sustainable Development for Rural establishes measures to maintain and improve farming, compatible with sustainable development. Among these measures, art. 16 emphasizes preferential attention and priority to the holders of territorial exploitation.
Territorial exploitation is defined in art. 16.3, Paragraph 2 as a farm, livestock, or forest that has an economic dimension less than 40 units of economic size in Europe when the ownership corresponds to an individual, and is located in a rural area of priority or an area described as mountain farming.
Priority Actions Prescribed by Law
- The implementation of measures with EU regulations on rural development.
- Priority application where the farms can be classified as organic.
- Maximum possible support where the beneficiary is a woman, a young farmer, or a co-owner of a farm.