Young Farmers Promised a Faster 35 Million Euro Call for 200 Newcomers: What the Last Round Paid and Who Could Qualify

Portugal's agriculture minister, José Manuel Fernandes, announced on Friday a new 35 million euro call for young people setting up as farmers, with the stated aim of bringing in 200 new farmers. He spoke at the first Encontro de Jovens Agricultores (Young Farmers' Meeting) in Macedo de Cavaleiros, Lusa reported in a story carried by ECO, Observador and DN. By Friday evening no call notice had appeared on the PEPAC no Continente portal (the mainland arm of Portugal's EU farm funding plan), so dates and rules are still to come.

What the minister promised

According to the Lusa report, Fernandes said the new line will use "unit costs and simplified costs" and less red tape. Applicants will not need a water-use licence when they submit; it will be required only at the contract stage, after approval. He also said taking over an existing farm from someone else will be simpler and will not count against an application.

He put the wider generational renewal effort at 330 million euros for 2,000 young people, with "more than 1,500" projects under way, and said those farming full time receive about 55,000 euros to set up. The average age of Portuguese farmers, he said, is about 64.

How the last call worked

The existing support is PEPAC intervention C.2.2, Instalação de jovens agricultores (Installation of young farmers), governed by Portaria 303-A/2024/1. It pairs a set-up prize with an investment grant, applied for on a single form. The prize is a non-repayable 25,000 euros, plus 25,000 euros for those who live only from farming and 5,000 euros if the farm lies in an officially designated vulnerable territory. That is the minister's 55,000 euros. Eighty percent of the base prize, plus any territory supplement, is paid once the acceptance contract is signed; the rest, including the full-time supplement, after the business plan is checked.

The investment grant covers 60 percent of eligible spending up to 500,000 euros and 50 percent from there to 2 million euros, capped at 400,000 euros per application. Prize and grant together cannot exceed 120 percent of the approved investment.

That call stayed open for 14 months, from November 2024 to 30 December 2025, in four periods. PEPAC says it drew more than 4,000 applications and that its budget was raised by more than 150 million euros, to over 296 million.

Who qualified, including foreign residents

• Aged 18 to 40 inclusive on the day of application.
• A first installation: taking on ownership and direct management of a farm for the first time, in mainland Portugal.
• Suitable farming qualifications, or a commitment to start a 50-hour and a 100-hour course within 12 months.
• Tax and social security affairs in order, and the land registered in the national parcel identification system.
• No previous farm investment aid or set-up prize, and no farm subsidies or tax registration as a farmer before the two years preceding the application.
• A five-year business plan.

The regulation sets no nationality or residence-permit condition. In practice, an applicant needs a Portuguese tax number, social security registration and a farm held in their own name. The new call's rules could differ, and a September amendment (Portaria 426/2026/1) changed several PEPAC schemes, including how unit costs apply.

What happens next

The young farmer call does not appear in the indicative 2026 timetable PEPAC published in August, so its notice is the document to watch. When it opens it will be listed under Concursos on pepacc.pt, with applications filed online through pepacc.pt or agricultura.gov.pt. The PEPAC helpline is 213 819 300 on working days. For other recent farm support, see the EU storm aid for farmers in 90 councils; on costs, see rising fertiliser and fuel prices.