Cereals are the most important source of food for humans. Be it bread, a bowl of rice, biscuits, pasta, pizza or another of the countless cereal flour-based preparations out there, most Europeans have consumed cereals today. And not just people – about two thirds of the 300 million tonnes of cereals the EU harvests per year is used to feed farm animals.

As an EU cereal farmer, you play a crucial role in food and feed production, ensuring the EU's food security. However, you are likely familiar with the production, market and financial risks you may face due to climate conditions, geopolitical instability, or trends in global markets, yields and prices. EU support is there to help you manage these challenges.

The EU's direct payments to farmers help sustain the profitability of cereal farms and may represent a significant part of your revenues – higher than in most other types of farming. As you receive subsidies independently of what and how much you produce, these payments can help you decide on your production in response to market developments. The EU's rural development measures support the adoption of risk management tools. And in exceptional situations, the EU intervenes to protect cereal farmers from low market prices by buying cereals for public storage, or providing funds when global events make production material, such as fertilisers, too expensive. Finally, EU licenses and tariff quotas are in place to regulate certain aspects of cereal import and export.