Burgenland offers farmers 300,000 euros for drought-hit feed purchases

The Burgenland provincial government is making 300,000 euros available to farmers to buy replacement feed after drought severely affected local agriculture, ORF reported Friday.

Farms with their main business headquarters and livestock operations in Burgenland can receive a non-repayable grant of up to 5,000 euros. The funding is intended to cushion the economic impact of the drought and help maintain livestock numbers.

Eligible purchases made between July 1, 2026, and March 31, 2027, include roughage, pressed and dried cuttings, silage maize and grass silage, as well as grain maize and feed grain.

Applications are expected to open in mid-October. They can be submitted online through the provincial government’s website or by post.

“Livestock farms in particular face the difficult question of how to get their animals through the winter. They need concrete support,” Deputy Governor Anja Haider-Wallner said. She said the special scheme would provide help where the costs actually arise, namely in the necessary purchase of feed.

In August, the province introduced an exception for organic farms that need to use conventional feed because of shortages. Since then, six businesses have received individual approvals to purchase a total of 457 tonnes of hay, grass, grass silage and pellets, as well as 219 tonnes of silage maize.