Agricultural land: Obtaining the status of farmer
The status of farmer is important for exercising the priority right for the purchase of agricultural land or a farm in the event that more than one person has accepted the offer of sale.
An individual who is engaged in agricultural activity or who wishes to engage in agricultural activity, who is duly qualified to carry out agricultural activity and who generates a certain income from agricultural activity, or who demonstrates that they will generate a certain income, shall apply for the status of farmer to the administrative unit in the area in which the greater part of the agricultural land used by the individual is situated.
To obtain the status of farmer, a natural person must meet one of the following conditions:
1. own, lease or otherwise use agricultural land, cultivate it by themselves or with the help of others, be duly qualified to do so and derive a significant part of their income from agricultural activity;
2. be a member of the family of a person referred to in the preceding item, provided that they carry out the agricultural activity on the farm as their sole or main activity and be duly qualified to do so;
3. has derived a significant part of their income from the agricultural activity on the farm but, owing to old age or incapacity for work, does not carry out the agricultural activity on the farm, provided that they take care of the cultivation of the agricultural land;
4. make a declaration on the record before the administrative unit that they will, themselves or with the assistance of others, cultivate the agricultural land which they prove that they will acquire, that they will derive a significant part of their income from the agricultural activity on that land and that they fulfil the qualification conditions.