Farmers in 90 Councils Hit by Storm Kristin Will Share 30 Million Euros of EU Aid, at 1,000 Euros a Hectare for Vegetables

Farmers whose land lies in 90 mainland councils struck by Storm Kristin in January and February will share 30 million euros of emergency EU aid, under rules published on Wednesday in the Diário da República (official gazette). Portaria n.º 447/2026/1 (Ministerial Order 447/2026/1) pays flat amounts per hectare of crops, per square metre of greenhouse and per animal, with nothing to repay.

The money comes from the EU's agricultural reserve, the crisis fund in the common agricultural policy. The government asked Brussels for help on 5 February. On 10 July the European Commission adopted Implementing Regulation (EU) 2026/1698, which gives 56.6 million euros to farmers in Croatia, Cyprus, Portugal, Romania and Slovenia, 30 million of it to Portugal.

What each sector gets

At the full rates, a farmer with 5 hectares of vegetables would receive 5,000 euros, and one with 1,000 square metres of damaged greenhouse 2,600 euros. If claims in a sector exceed its budget, every payment in that sector is cut in proportion. Money left unspent in the other sectors goes to open-field crops.

Who qualifies

Open-field crops, pigs and dairy cows qualify only on farms in the 90 councils listed in the order. They are the councils named in two Council of Ministers resolutions of 30 January and 1 February and in a dispatch of 24 February, and they stretch from Leiria, Pombal and Ourém through Coimbra, Aveiro and the Oeste to the Ribatejo, Castelo Branco and three Algarve councils: Faro, Alcoutim and Monchique.

• Open-field crops: the area must have been declared in the 2025 single application for farm payments (Pedido Único). The eligible vegetables run from potatoes, onions and tomatoes to strawberries, melons and aromatic herbs; the cereals are oats, ryegrass, rye, barley, wheat and triticale.
• Greenhouses: the farmer needs a damage declaration validated by the regional coordination and development commission (CCDR). Greenhouse growers anywhere on the mainland can claim, not only in the 90 councils.
• Pigs: paid on the herd declared to the national animal register (SNIRA) for December 2025, as updated to 31 March. A declaration for April 2026 must also have been filed.
• Dairy cows: for farmers who received the 2026 dairy cow payment (pagamento ao leite de vaca), per eligible animal.

No payment is made below 50 euros, and no farmer can receive more than 50,000 euros in total. The aid can be combined with other public support or insurance payouts for the storm, as long as the farmer is not compensated for more than the loss.

Applying and payment

Claims are made online on the iDigital platform of the Instituto de Financiamento da Agricultura e Pescas (Agriculture and Fisheries Financing Institute, IFAP). The deadline has not been set yet: IFAP will announce it in a notice on its website. Payment is due by 28 February 2027, more than a year after the storm.

The order was signed on 27 September by the Minister of Agriculture and the Sea, José Manuel Fernandes, and takes effect on Thursday. It adds to the support already paid to households and businesses, where Leiria alone handled almost a third of the country's damage claims.

Source: Portaria n.º 447/2026/1, Diário da República, 1st series, no. 190, 30 September 2026 (in Portuguese), including Annex I (the 90 councils) and Annex II (eligible crops). The example payments are our own arithmetic from the order's rates, before any proportional cut.

Feature image: roofing torn off by Storm Kristin in Amor, Leiria, on 28 January 2026. Photo by Charles0304 (CC0), via Wikimedia Commons.