ZAGREB, 14 July 2022 - The government on Thursday adopted a HRK 1.2 million (€160,000) aid programme for beekeepers to offset the damage caused by mass deaths of bee colonies this spring and a HRK 80 million (€10.6 m) emergency package to help dairy, pig and poultry farmers cope with increased feed and energy prices.

Mass deaths of bees occurred in Međimurje County, Bjelovar-Bilogora County and Virovitica-Podravina County this spring, causing a loss of nearly 2,000 bee colonies and jeopardising the pollination of agricultural crops, Agriculture Minister Marija Vučković said.

The aim of the programme is to compensate the beekeepers for the losses and ensure continued beekeeping. The beekeepers will be entitled to HRK 860 (€115) per colony.

The programme of emergency measures for dairy, pig and poultry farmers aims to ensure the continuation of primary production in these sectors and contribute to the security of supply of milk, pork, poultry and eggs. The aid will be allocated to micro, small and medium enterprises.

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ZAGREB, 17 Feb 2022 - According to the provisional number of livestock and poultry in 2021, as compared to the final data for 2020, the number of cattle increased by 1.2%, while the number of pigs decreased by 6.8%, of sheep by 4.5% and of poultry by 11.9%, the Croatian Bureau of Statistics has said.

As of 1 December 2021, there were 428,000 head of cattle in Croatia, 963,000 pigs, 632,000 sheep, 86,000 goats, the same as in December 2020, and 11.5 million head of poultry.

The number of cattle of two years and over dropped by 0.6% to 165,000, the number of dairy cows by 7.3% to 102,000 and the number of cattle between one and two years old by 3.6% to 107,000, while the number of young cattle under one year old went up by 6.8% to 156,000.

The number of breeding pigs dropped by 4.4% to 108,000, while the number of sows went up by 2% to 51,000.

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November the 17th, 2021 - Croatian livestock farmers are struggling cost-wise as competitiveness in placing domestic beef on the market when cheaper, lower quality foreign meat is ever-present is proving difficult.

As Poslovni Dnevnik writes, back at the end of last week, the Croatian Baby Beef Association for Fattening and Breeding requested the state's help for breeders in achieving cost competitiveness as cheap foreign imports dominate the scene.

The goal of the Association is to place young Croatian beef, known as baby beef, on store shelves and in the kitchens of restaurants and hotels, said the new president of the Baby Beef Association Zvonko Sirjan, who was elected at the annual election assembly held on Friday at the Bjelovar Fair in Gudovac.

Fodder prices have risen, while the price of meat has remained stable and has not kept pace with this increase, explained Sirjan, adding that due to the high price of fodder, Croatian livestock farmers are losing four to five kuna per kilogram of meat, which quickly adds up. Therefore, in order to "survive the winter", the intervention of the relevant ministry is necessary, he believes.

"As one of the short-term measures, we expect state intervention. Through product labelling we want to get higher prices that will help our sector survive. We're also proposing the opening of markets such as the Turkish and Israeli ones, and we certainly expect Croatian producers to be promoted and Croatian products to be sold through retail, and not only from imports,'' said Sirjan.

"We managed to brand our young Croatian beef baby beef and we'll continue to work on that. Our Association needs to respond to all of the challenges of the times and global trends where meat that comes to Croatian stores from elsewhere has a far lower price and we must try to resist that. We want to present ourselves to our consumers as serious producers who can guarantee quality, safety and a healthy product from Croatian farms,'' said Sirjan of the plight of Croatian livestock farmers who are rightfully worried about a difficult winter.

The Croatian Baby Beef Association is otherwise the oldest and largest cattle fattening association, founded back in 2000. It currently has 330 members, Croatian livestock farmers, who raise 120,000 cattle across the country.

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