There will be no harvest, the harvest festival is canceled. And never help for a saint?

Żniw nie będzie, dożynki odwołane. A pomoc na święty nigdy?

As a result of storms with hurricane winds, torrential rain and hail, farmers in Świętokrzyskie no longer have anything to collect from their fields. As a result of the storms that swept through the Świętokrzyskie Voivodeship on the night of July 13/14 and then on July 16, hundreds of farmers no longer have any reason to use combine harvesters in the fields. Meanwhile, the Minister of Agriculture, who visited the region yesterday, had no specific information for them.

-Minister Siekierski can only make vague promises, without specifics or dates. We only heard "maybe", "probably", "probably" and "if it works" – says Artur Konarski, a farmer from the Maskorzew commune, in the Włoszczowa district and the chairman of the agricultural "Solidarity" in the region. – Meanwhile, in my case, the hail "threshed out" 150 hectares of wheat. All the grain lies on the ground, it cannot be collected except with a vacuum cleaner.

-There are hundreds of other farmers in the region in the same situation. We cannot wait, we need quick action, because in a moment all these farms will collapse – argues the trade unionist. -I participate in the work of the commission assessing the damage, in my commune farmers lost at least 80 percent. crops.

The drama of Świętokrzyskie farmers. In one commune alone, the storm took away crops from 5,000 hectares!

Huge scale of losses

The most affected by violent storms were the communes of Słupia, Nagłowice, Oksa and Małogoszcz in the Jędrzejów poviat, and the Maskorzew commune in the Włoszczowa poviat. There, field losses reach up to 100 percent. However, it was not only crops that suffered. The storm ripped off roofs and knocked down trees and poles. Buildings and agricultural machinery are destroyed. In one commune of Słupia Jędrzejowska, over 20 farm buildings were damaged, and hail trampled over 5,000 hectares of crops – just before harvest. Meanwhile, municipal commissions have already gone into the field and are assessing further damage caused by the recent hurricane storms. According to the Świętokrzyskie Voivode, Michał Skotnicki, storms destroyed 30,000 hectares of crops in the Świętokrzyskie Voivodeship, of which 22,000 in Jędrzejów County.

-The situation is very serious. For now, it is difficult to estimate the damage because data is still being sent to municipalities. Many farmers find it difficult to collect themselves and assess the damage – says the president of the Świętokrzyska Chamber of Agriculture, Mirosław Fucia.

The destruction affected a larger area of crops and more municipalities than previously thought. These are, for example, the Radków commune in the Włoszczowa district and the Sobków commune, where the destruction reached areas of 1,500 ha each – we learn from the president of ŚIR.

The storms caused numerous destructions. Municipalities and Agricultural Chambers are intervening

Money in promises

Farmers warn that they are in a dramatic situation. They also remind us that they have not yet received compensation for losses after spring frosts, nor the promised subsidies for losses in the sale of grain due to imports from Ukraine. Now they are up against the wall, because without this year's harvest, many people have no chance of survival. Meanwhile, what does direct payments look like for salvation?

-The minister first postponed the payment of compensation, then postponed it until the next de minimis payment. Now no one knows if or when we will get anything. And when things get heated, they will change the minister and the new one will not take responsibility for the promises of his predecessor and we will be left with nothing, says Artur Konarski.

Farmers want to take the Minister of Agriculture to court for grain losses

-Minister Siekierski assured that funds from the European Commission to help with frost damage will be distributed as soon as possible. It will probably be delivered to farmers at the beginning of November – says Mirosław Fucia, president of ŚIR. – However, subsidies for sold cereals are to be paid earlier. The situation is urgent, but we understand that if something is to be done well, it will take time.

Saint never?

But can farmers in the Świętokrzyskie Voivodeship wait so long? Our conversations show that probably not.

-I had frost damage in the spring and they didn't give me a penny. It will probably be the same as with the promised "drought". After the storms, I don't know if it will be worth renting a combine harvester. You also have to wait for subsidies from the Agency, maybe a week, maybe two, maybe longer. However, the bank doesn't care and makes me pay the installment, no one extends my electricity and water bills, and no one pours fuel into the machine for free. Pigs and cows also have to eat, and there will be no feed this year – complains Łukasz S., a farmer from Świętokrzyskie. -What's next? – I don't know, but I know that I won't feed my children or livestock with the government's promises. They tell us to wait for a saint never, but we don't have that much time…

The Chamber postulated

The Świętokrzyska Chamber of Agriculture requested the Minister of Agriculture to declare a state of natural disaster in the areas affected by the disaster and to immediately release the government's financial reserve to pay the affected farmers in advance financial resources for the current needs of their farms and families. He also proposes partial forgiveness of farmers' loans or deferral of their repayment until next year, because the lack of income on affected farms will make it impossible to repay the installments. He demands too
write-offs and reliefs in payments of agricultural tax and real estate tax, and reliefs in payments to KRUS. Local government officials also applied for advance payments from the Agency for Restructuring and Modernization of Agriculture towards due direct payments.

Czesław Siekierski, who took part in the extraordinary session of the Jędrzejów County Council yesterday, stated that it was not within his competences.

– This is not just a decision of the Minister of Agriculture. Decisions must be made at the government level as to whether all the criteria for a natural disaster are met, he explained to the gathered farmers.

So we have to wait again for the decision. Is it as long as for drought and frost support?