Overview
- The government announced the measures on Thursday, July 9, with a €145 million emergency envelope that pays €50 per tonne of simple nitrogen fertiliser and €70 per tonne for farms where fertiliser costs exceed 10% of charges.
- The aid applies to purchases made between June 1 and October 1, 2026, is capped at half of each farm’s 2025 consumption and will be reassessed on October 1 to decide if further support is needed.
- The emergency envelope combines €107 million from the EU crisis reserve with national credits to reach €145 million and will be triggered from a minimum claim of €750.
- As a longer-term response the government launched a sovereignty strategy backed by a €2 billion industrial investment programme with €620 million of public support to boost domestic low‑carbon nitrogen fertiliser output and cut mineral fertiliser use.
- Officials cited three projects ready to start in Normandy and the Somme but warned that hydrogen-based, decarbonised fertiliser production remains costly and that cereal farmers face sustained financial strain after several loss-making years, so policy changes and market shifts will be needed to ease pressure.