The paper evaluates the effects of integration and globalization on individual farms in Slovakia after EU accession in 2004. The decrease in employment in agriculture is a result of technological progress, changes in individual family preferences and low income in agriculture in comparison to other sectors of economy. In the production commodities with low labor input dominate. Cereals, oilseeds and industrial crops dominate the agriculture production in Slovakia. Large farms benefit in form of economy of scale and agricultural output of farms remains low in Slovakia. The paper compares the risk of crop and animal production based in individual farm data using Markowitz portfolio theory. The crop production is more risky due to higher effects of weather condition compared to animal production. The second part of the paper evaluates the changes on access to credit and finance gap of farms in Slovakia. Based on individual interviews with representatives of demand and supply of loans the paper concludes that large the Common agricultural policy is playing a dominant role in access to credit. Banks consider the CAP subsidies to be a stable income factor and good collateral for loans. The loan market is dominated by short term loans and the majority of the market offers are coming from 4 commercial banks. The finance gap exists towards small farmers and farmers with animal production and special crops.

Research background: Risk in agriculture is a difficult concept to recognize, because farmers are exposed to different types of risks that influence their agricultural activity. The stability of farmer´s income is threatened by various factor interconnected to each other, such as market risks (price volatility, market shocks), financial risks (indebtedness, loans and credits), production risks (climate change, pests and diseases, biosecurity), technological risk (digitization, technological progress), institutional risk (regulations, environment and tax policy), and human resource risk (physical and mental health). Therefore, for the farmers it is very challenging to implement appropriate and effective risk management tools, in order to stabilize their income. Purpose of the article: Risk management offers a variety of strategies and instruments on the farm or aggregate level to copy with the risk. Also in the Pillar II of CAP 2014-2020 were introduced new risk management tools, as a response to greater price and yield variability among European countries. In the paper, we decided to analyse and compare several public risk management tools that can farmers use to increase their welfare and stabilize income. Methods: The national agricultural policies, as well as CAP are aimed at compensating farmers for the negative effects, however it is not so easy to govern and implement the tools on the farm level. The paper provides a comparative analysis of selected tools that are the most suitable for Slovak agricultural producers. Findings & Value added: The results of the paper can give the farmers ability to compare and choose between public risk management tools that could be used for risk exposure.

In this paper we estimate systematic risk of the Slovak unquoted agricultural farms-agricultural cooperatives and companies, in the period of 2009-2012. An alternative Markowitz portfolio theory approach was applied. As a measure of the systematic risk, we used return on equity (ROE). Based on the dataset of 996 farms over years 2009-2012, the Slovak farm average ROE reached 0.048% and systematic risk 3%. The Slovak agricultural farms displayed low profitability. The average ROE was higher and systematic risk indicator was lower for agricultural companies than for agricultural production cooperatives. Thus the agricultural companies could be more attractive for investors.

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Research background: Globalization is a powerful engine of structural changes in national, regional and global economies. Except for positive economic effects, globalization also has negative effects. One of them is the deterioration of the global environmental situation and the ongoing global climate change. Purpose of the article: The paper focuses on the current global financing trends to mitigate the effects of climate change. Generally financial funds come from international, national and regional actors. Governments have a range of funding mechanisms and resources at their disposal. Within the EU, these are the Structural Funds, investment funds and the financing from European Investment Bank. At the national level, it is financial assistance from state budgets and local government budgets. Methods: The paper provides literature review of the possibilities of financing climate change at the national and international level and, using analysis and synthesis, points to future trends and sources of financing climate change. We also analyse the proposal of Common agricultural policy 2021-2027 and effects on Slovak agriculture. European Commission wants member states to use up to 40% of the budget for environmental goods and climate change. Slovakia might have problems to spend the allocation due to the fact, that most of the money will be voluntary schemes. Farmers will have the option to participate. Findings & Value added: Agriculture is seriously exposed to the adverse effects of climate change as agricultural activities are directly depending on climate conditions. The article analyses in detail the possibilities and sources of financing adaptation measures in the Slovak agricultural sector.