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According to the government's decision, the financial support will be released to registered dairy farms for milk deliveries in tons, supplied from October 1, 2015 to April 30, 2016 if the producer owns registered milk cows or more than 18 months old heifers.

Entitled to the support are those milk producers that have registered with the information system by June 10, 2016.

The Rural Support Service will pay out the support money until June 30.

The government, however, refused to grant any assistance to Latvia's pig farmers. The Agriculture Ministry said that since the pork purchase price has risen from 2015 and the price difference at the beginning of May 2016 in comparison with July 2014 was 20%, which the European Commission considers a normal price fluctuation, the situation in the industry cannot be regarded as critical.

Several farmers told LETA earlier that the extraordinary aid was achieved thanks to non-governmental organizations' pressure on the government. It will be extremely important in the current situation, especially taking into account that Latvian farmers will most probably receive no aid from the European Union this summer.

According to official statistics, there are approximately 21,800 dairy farms in Latvia, and the total number of dairy cows in Latvia was 161,932 this past April.