RIGA, Nov 26 (LETA) - By the end of the state of emergency in the agriculture sector on November 4, farmers had submitted information on 95,295 hectares of areas affected by this year's adverse weather conditions, bringing the total preliminary losses to EUR 110.95 million, the Ministry of Agriculture told LETA.

By November 4, 92,975 hectares of agricultural crops (grain, oilseeds, legumes, herbs, fruit and vegetables) had been damaged by the rains. The total estimated losses amount to EUR 88.45 million.

The total area of fruit crops affected by the spring frosts was 2,320 hectares, with blackcurrant, apple, blueberry, sea-buckthorn and pear plantations suffering the most. The total estimated loss is EUR 22.5 million.

In addition, other important factors such as the quality of the harvest, the low purchase price and others must be taken into account, in addition to the areas affected or not planted by the adverse climatic conditions, the ministry informs.

The ministry also pointed out that due to adverse agro-climatic conditions, a large part of the 2025 wheat harvest is of reduced quality, meeting only feed standards, resulting in lower market prices and greater financial pressure for producers.

In the previous four years, food-grade wheat grain accounted for an average of 77 percent of the total harvest, while in 2025 its share has fallen to 40 percent and that of feed-grade grain has risen to 60 percent.

This year, 62 percent of the food quality grains are rye (compared to an average of 74 percent in the previous four years), 1 percent barley (previously 5 percent) and 19 percent oats (previously 57 percent).

As reported, at an extraordinary meeting on August 5, the government declared a state of emergency in agriculture in the entire territory of Latvia until November 4, 2025 in order to overcome damage done by frosts, rains and floods this year.

That is why, at the end of September, the European Commission decided to grant EUR 4.2 million in emergency aid from the European Union to Latvian farmers to tackle the damage caused by this year's adverse weather conditions, based on information provided by the Ministry of Agriculture.