Czech Agriculture Ministry Weighs Right of First Refusal on Farmland, Farmers Push Back

The Czech Ministry of Agriculture is considering several options for regulating the sale of farmland, including introducing a right of first refusal for farmers who currently work a given plot. This was confirmed by ministry spokesman Marek Otava, who noted that no final decision has yet been made.

According to him, the ministry is examining multiple scenarios at once: a right of first refusal, various forms of mandatory notification about a planned sale, changes to the Civil Code provisions on agricultural leases — or a combination of these measures. The ministry is currently finishing its analysis of the consequences of each option and assessing whether restricting property rights in this way would be compatible with the constitution and EU law. No specific timeline for a decision has been given.

Soft or hard version

Back in July, Agriculture Minister Martin Šebestyán (SPD) spoke of two main scenarios. The "soft" option would involve only a non-public obligation to notify others before selling land. The "hard" option would introduce a genuine right of first refusal: first in line would be the farmer already working the plot, followed by neighbouring farms, then the state or municipality, with the land only reaching the open market as a last resort.

Supporters of regulation argue it is needed to protect land from speculators and strengthen the position of those who actually farm it. However, the tougher version finds little support among farmers themselves.

What farmers themselves are saying

Jiří Milek, co-owner of the Úsovsko holding (14,000 hectares), called talk of a "pre-emption right" a journalistic exaggeration, arguing that farmers simply need a straightforward notification — say, 30 days before a sale — so they have time to make an offer. He recalled a case where land his farm had worked for years was sold by its owner to speculators at 6 crowns per square metre less than farmers had offered, only for the buyers to immediately resell the plot back to the same farm.

Jiří Řehák, chairman of ZS Přestavlky (1,800 ha), holds a similar view: he says the price gap per hectare when speculators resold land reached as much as 80,000 crowns. At the same time, he points out that a notification obligation is hard to enforce legally — an owner can simply refuse to sign an agreement, and pursuing the matter through the courts can drag on for years.

Jan Šimek, chairman of the board of JTZE (39,000 ha), backed a tougher approach: mandatory notification plus the right of the farmer already working the land to outbid the highest offer at a tender organised by the owner. He compared unscrupulous land buyers to door-to-door sellers of overpriced goods who prey on unsuspecting owners.

Petr Sklenář, chairman of ZOD Brniště (2,500 ha), opposed any regulation, arguing that an owner's rights should outweigh those of a tenant farmer. Josef Kolář, co-owner of RHEA Holding (22,000 ha), was even more strongly against it: in his view, the state has no business dictating to owners whom they can sell land to or at what price. He predicts that in the end only the soft version, with mandatory notification, will be adopted.

František Bureš, chairman of Babiš Agro (1,260 ha), backed the soft form of regulation to keep land out of the hands of foreign investors and dubious middlemen, but noted that his own farm already learns about planned sales in advance thanks to the terms of its existing contracts.

Source: seznamzpravy.cz

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