Farming revenues for 2009 down by 20 billion crowns

Farming revenues for 2009 are expected to drop by 20 billion crowns, the Agricultural Association of the Czech Republic has reported. In spite of optimistic economic forecasts made during the summer, the year will thus be the first to end in a loss for Czech farmers since the country’s accession to the European Union in 2004. The major factor is the sharply reduced prices of milk and grains, which alone account for more than a 75% of the dive. The Czech Agrarian Chamber originally forecast a two-billion-crown profit for Czech farmers; the chamber’s chairman Jan Veleba now says he did not want to insinuate a loss prematurely to avoid banks’ toughening up loan conditions for farmers. In 2008 Czech agriculture recorded profits of 9.7 billion crowns.