The average age of agricultural machinery in Slovakia is 10.9 years, of which 77 percent have already been depreciated. Obsolete technology has negatively influenced the efficiency in the agricultural sector. A simple replacement of technology in the sector would need investment worth 4 billion Sk ($133 million) annually. Companies are not able to get close to this amount in spite of state support. The best situation is in planting sugar beets where sugar processing companies helped primary producers.
Some farmers used advantageous loans to build new personal houses or barns to stock grain and house animals instead of investing in new machines according to the Ministry of Agriculture.
