Tag: Hungary

This paper aims to explore the efficiency of Hungarian dairy farms. Based on FADN data representing more than 950 dairy farms in Hungary, our sample contains more than 6800 data points which we analysed by applying different Data Envelopment Analysis models. Results suggest that the average technical efficiency of the Hungarian dairy sector during the examined 10 years was 77.6%, meaning that output could be increased by 22.4% without changing the level of input (efficiency reserve). Large and small farms are more efficient (79.2%) than medium sized farms (59.2%). Moreover, large farms keeping more than 501 dairy cows were found to be more efficient (92.5%) than the other two size categories (77.9% and 65%, respectively). Farms located in Northern Hungary had less efficiency reserves (23.6%) that the farms operating in the Great Hungarian Plain, Central Hungary (34.8%) or in the Transdanubian Region (27.6%). All this suggests high reserves for potential efficiency growth.

The debate on reforming the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) after 2020 had already started when the European Commission published its own vision on the future of agriculture and food production in the European Union. One of the key aspects of this debate relates to the revision of the system of EU direct payments by revising degressivity and capping rules. Although it has, for a long time, been a popular idea to limit payments to larger farms in one way or another, and subsidise smaller agricultural holdings instead, this idea has serious drawbacks as this paper shows. The aim of this study is to analyse the impact of degressivity and capping on European farm structures by reviewing existing literature on the topic as well as by providing new evidence from Hungary. Results suggest that placing a cap on direct payments may be causing more harm than good in terms of land use change.

As the Black Sea Region (BSR) has recently emerged as a major world grain exporter region, this study assesses the possible influence of BSR maize prices on maize futures prices in Hungary. To measure the linear relationship between these prices the Pearson’s correlation was used, and to estimate their cointegration the Johansen test was performed for the period April 2011 to December 2013. Prices of Paris (MATIF) and Chicago (CBOT) maize futures were also included in the analysis for comparison. The results suggest that BSR maize prices had little or no influence on futures price discovery in Hungary during the period investigated. From this it can be concluded that (a) BSR supply and demand conditions bore negligible importance for market participants, and (b) Budapest Stock Exchange maize futures may not be efficient tools for hedging price risks associated with Hungarian maize exports to third countries where prices are derived from quotes at BSR seaports. On the other hand, MATIF maize futures prices had a measurable impact on the pricing of maize futures in Hungary, although this connection disappeared for the period April-December 2013. The same was true for CBOT maize futures prices which Hungarian maize futures prices were also cointegrated ...

In Hungary, the rates of direct payments to farmers under the Common Agricultural Policy for the period 2014-2020, the distribution of these payments, and ultimately their impacts on farming decisions, will depend on the combination of mandatory and optional Pillar I support schemes to be introduced in 2015. This paper presents estimations of the structural impact of six new support policy option mixes (scenarios) compared to 2013 (baseline), and discusses the policy implications in terms of the degressivity of direct payments versus the possible introduction of the Redistributive Payment in particular. The calculations of direct payment rates and the distribution of these payments were based on the database of the Hungarian Agricultural and Rural Development Agency for 2011, and the moving averages of the descriptive parameters of farms were obtained from the Farm Accountancy Data Network. To assess the structural impacts an agent-based simulation model was developed. Decisions were modelled at the micro-level and macro-outcomes were modelled as the consequences of these micro-level decisions. From an economic point of view, the Redistributive Payment would have no real advantage over the reduction of direct payments in Hungary as the Redistributive Payment would benefit only farms of relatively small size and would ...

This paper explores and analyses the Hungarian institutional system for the creation and the transfer of knowledge in the field of agriculture and rural development. We consider the constitution and operation of the Agricultural Knowledge System (AKS) in Hungary, focussing on the formally organised aspects, and suggest that both the structure and content of the knowledge needed in the sector have significantly changed during the past decades. These changes, especially in relation to the sustainability of agriculture, pose significant challenges to traditional AKS institutions, which often have failed to change in line with the new requirements. Based on a literature review, interviews and a national stakeholder workshop, we offer an analysis of Hungarian AKS institutions, their co-ordination, co-operation and communication with each other and with Hungarian rurality, and of the arising issues and problems concerning the creation and the flow of knowledge needed for sustainable agriculture. We also briefly explore characteristics of emerging bottom-up structures, called LINSAS (learning and innovation networks for sustainable agriculture), and explore the significance of the findings in this article for the study of AKS in Europe. This article is based on preliminary results of the SOLINSA research project, supported by the European Union’s Seventh Framework ...