The most significant factor that increased income was the increase in production in crop production, where the increase reached 44.6% due to significantly higher yields of the main crops. At the same time, the volume of animal husbandry has slightly decreased – by 0.6%. The impact of price and subsidy changes in 2019 has been slightly negative, especially considering the 9% reduction in subsidies.
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Changes in the volume of crop production were influenced by both the increase in the sown areas of the most important crop crops compared to the previous year and a significant increase in productivity due to significantly better weather conditions. Thus, a record yield of grain and rapeseed was collected – by 54% and 77% higher, respectively, than in 2018.
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The share of winter crops in the structure of cereals has significantly increased, which was less in 2018 due to unfavorable conditions during their sowing. The share of winters in the total yield in 2019 is 70%, but in 2018 – 49%. The main cereals are wheat, the value of which in 2019 reached 70% of the value of cereal production. Other important products also have a significant increase in total yield – vegetables by 24%, potatoes by 17%, and fodder crops by 16%. There is a slight decrease in the total yield of legumes – by 2%, as well as fruits and berries – by 15% due to spring frosts.
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According to the report, the total volume in the livestock sector has hardly changed in the last two years. In 2019, in general, the volume has decreased by as much as 0.6%. Trends of change are different for individual livestock products. Milk production has not changed significantly, ie the volume of final production has increased by 0.5%, but a significant increase has been observed in egg production – by 11.4%. Honey production increased by 7.4%, pork production by 2.2% and poultry production by 0.3%. The production of other major livestock products has decreased – for beef by 8.2%, for sheep meat by 3.7%, but the sharpest decline is in fur production – by 53%.
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Price changes tend to have the opposite tendency to volume changes, and this also explains the small decrease in the average producer price of agricultural products in 2019. This was due to a 1.7% drop in crop prices. This factor has slightly hampered income growth in this sector. Meanwhile, average prices of livestock products have increased by 3.6%. This was facilitated by an increase in the average purchase price for milk by 3.6%, as well as a significant increase in the price for pork by 13.9% and poultry by 6.6%. For some other livestock products, on average, the average price has fallen, including sheepmeat and eggs by 4%, fur by 9% and honey by 11%.
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Trends in crop product prices are also different. There is a significant price increase for potatoes – by 16% and vegetables – by 12%. The price has also increased by 4% for rapeseed and by 3% for legumes. In contrast, the price of cereals has fallen by an average of 7%, including 14% for rye and oats. The large share of cereals in the structure of crop products also contributed to the decrease in the average price in crop production.
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The material prepared by the Ministry of Agriculture also indicates that last year there were 1.96 million hectares of agricultural land in Latvia, which accounted for 36% of the total land in Latvia. The total value of agricultural output in 2019 was 1.472 billion euros, which is 25% more than a year earlier. Of the total value, 64% was crop production and 36% was livestock production.
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The most significant changes in the structure of products in 2019 have affected some crops, with a significant increase in their share: cereals by 4.3 percentage points, rapeseed by 3.2 percentage points. The share of vegetables and potatoes has also increased by 0.45 percentage points. The share of livestock products has decreased significantly: for milk by 3.9 percentage points, for beef by 1.1 percentage points, for poultry by 0.6 percentage points, for pork and eggs by 0.5 percentage points.
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