Farmers get up to 600 million flood aid

The federal states and the federal government are each contributing half of the sum, the federal ministry of agriculture explained. The money is to stay in the current and the coming year. The support to farmers is considered state aid and therefore requires the approval of the EU.

According to the berlin ministry, it is unlikely that the entire sum will be used up. At present, the farmers had reported damages of about 400 million euros. Of this, the lowen shares of 117 million euros each went to bavaria and saxony-anhalt. "We don’t foresee the damage amount going up," a spokesman said. At the moment, the water is still flowing away.

According to the ministry, however, the aid for agriculture, forestry and fishing is significantly lower than the reported damage – after all, insurance companies are also stepping in alongside the state. 120 million euros in emergency aid has been earmarked so far, according to the information provided. Unspent funds from the 600 million could also be used in case of possible further natural disasters until the end of 2014.