Evaluation of support for farms in less-favoured areas in the Czech Republic and Slovakia

The background, criteria and scope of the spatial definition of LFA are very similar in both countries. Farm eligibility criteria are entirely different. In Slovakia the whole agricultural area of a holding is eligible for payment. In the Czech Republic it is only the area of grassland. Only the holdings breading cattle, sheep or goats at a given density per hectare are eligible in the Czech Republic. The aim of the paper is to compare the situation of LFAs in both countries andto particularly evaluate the impact of the different eligibility criteria at the farm level in the Czech Republic and Slovakia. The impact of LFA payments on land use, production structure, and agricultural employment and on the economic results of farms is analysed on the basis of chosen indicators. The research comes to the conclusion that farmers are signifi cantly dependent on subsidies in both countries. The contribution of EU funds to LFA payment fi nancial resources has resulted positively in the decrease of unused agricultural land and it delayed the labour input decline in both countries. The differences of farm eligibility criteria have led to differing trends of grassland acreage and livestock number.