What will not happen in the next few days: Berliners pushing past food stands. Exhibition halls with cowsheds and horse boxes, long convoys of tractors and demonstrators with whistles. For the second time in a row, the Green Week, one of the largest agricultural shows in the world, falls victim to the pandemic – and of all times in the first few weeks of a new federal government. What there is anyway: a lot of departure, many unsolved construction sites – and endless explosives. An overview.
Less animals in stables, compensation for farmers
Dense crowd: Not only pigs should get more space in the barn.
(Photo: Carsten Rehder/picture alliance/dpa)
23 million pigs alone live in this country, plus eleven million cattle. Although the conditions in the stalls correspond to European standards, they do not meet what many consumers imagine under species-appropriate husbandry. In their coalition agreement, the SPD, Greens and FDP placed animal welfare right at the beginning of the agricultural chapter, and it is now also at the forefront for the new Minister of Agriculture, Cem Özdemir (Greens). He wants to introduce mandatory labeling of meat products before the end of this year. It is intended to provide information about how the cattle are doing, how much exercise they have and how much space in the barn. “If there is more air in the barn and fewer animals,” says Özdemir, “then it has to be compensated for.”
A commission chaired by the former Agriculture Minister Jochen Borchert (CDU) had already drawn up a proposal for this in the previous legislative period. Farmers should receive binding funds for the conversion of their stables, the Commission estimates them at up to 3.6 billion euros a year. It should either be raised by consumers, via a meat levy, or by taxpayers. For example, VAT on meat products could be increased from seven to 19 percent – if the coalition can agree on this. But that’s not all, the building law often stands in the way of the conversion of the stables, and it would have to be changed accordingly. And there isn’t much time either: Many companies are up to their necks in water since swine fever caused the export markets to collapse. Environmentalists have long called for the number of livestock to be reduced.
Farm deaths should be stopped
Each green wooden cross by the wayside represents an abandoned farm.
(Photo: Lino Mirgeler/dpa)
Overall, agriculture is not doing well. “Farmers get miserable prices that threaten their existence,” says Elisabeth Fresen, national chair of the working group for rural agriculture. “We are in the midst of farm deaths.” Within ten years, the number of companies had recently decreased by more than 36,000. However, the cultivated area remained the same – so the remaining farms became larger and larger. “Grow or give way, I want to change that,” says Özdemir. The system of “always higher, faster, further” has reached its limit.
However, that won’t be easy either. Many farms cannot find a successor for their farm, others decide to lease their land. But where young people want to set up new businesses, they usually lack the necessary space. Land is expensive, especially since investors who actually have nothing to do with agriculture are keen on it. That drives prices up.
Controversial distribution of EU agricultural aid
A strip of flowers at the edge of the field: The EU has provided money for natural field work.
(Photo: Peter Hinz-Rosin)
The criteria according to which Europe’s agricultural subsidies are distributed also determine the appearance of the landscape throughout the EU. For a long time, one thing above all was decisive for the amount of aid: how much area a farm cultivates. This drove not only land prices but also the intensification of agriculture – with the result that not only the environment but also farmers’ reputations suffered. The gulf between agriculture and the rest of society widened.
The old federal government therefore set up an “Agriculture Future Commission” with representatives from agriculture and trade, consumer protection and environmental groups. They agreed on a common route: According to this, farmers should also be paid for the services they provide for the environment and ultimately for society as a whole. Özdemir also has to implement it. The new version of the European agricultural policy gives him a little more leeway. According to this, the states can allocate more money for environmental services in “strategic plans”. But the first of these plans, for 2023, was drawn up by the old federal government. The final touches are still being made before the plan goes to Brussels for approval. Some environmentalists hope that he will come back from there – with a request for improvement.
Less liquid manure on the field
Manure is an important fertilizer. But too much of it is bad for the groundwater.
(Photo: Karl-Josef Hildenbrand/dpa)
That’s how it went with the German rules for the protection of groundwater. A nitrate guideline has been in force in the EU for three decades, and for a long time the federal government didn’t care. A judgment by the European Court of Justice finally forced a new fertilizer ordinance, with which, among other things, the entry of liquid manure into the soil should be limited – at least in so-called red areas. However, these areas have been narrowed down to such an extent that of the almost five million hectares of nitrate-polluted soil, particularly strict fertilizer regulations only apply to two million hectares.
Brussels does not agree with this, and fines of more than 800,000 euros a day are threatened. The federal and state governments are feverishly looking for a solution. As things stand, this should mean limitations for many farmers, and not all are willing to accept it. When farmers besieged the streets of Berlin two years ago, the fertilizer ordinance was one of the reasons.
Against the power of commerce
Farmers are protesting against the pricing policy of the retail groups.
(Photo: Toni Heigl)
However, the most recent farmers’ protests were no longer directed against politics, but against the market power of the retail trade. “The supermarkets had record sales last year,” says Marita Wiggerthale, agricultural expert at Oxfam. “But at the same time they are driving farms to ruin with their price pressure.” Last year, farmers had therefore demonstrated in front of large discounters. But an “agricultural dialogue” in which both sides were supposed to start a conversation fell through: trade withdrew. He relies on voluntary solutions, for example by offering more regional products. But behind the scenes, calls are getting louder for the big retail chains to be broken up if necessary. “We cannot pretend that this is sacrosanct,” says Olaf Bandt, head of the environmental association BUND.
“Climate change hits us hard”
A parched potato field: Drought and other extreme weather conditions are increasing.
(Photo: Johannes Simon)
At the same time, agriculture is battling global warming like no other industry: be it due to drought or, like last summer, flooding. “Climate change hits us to the core,” says Farmers’ President Joachim Rukwied. “But we are also part of the solution.” In 2020, agriculture accounted for 66 million tons of greenhouse gas emissions, which is nine percent of all emissions. Some of them come from animal production, but some also come from drained moorland. It is estimated that peatlands alone release 53 million tons of greenhouse gases every year. The new federal government therefore wants to invest heavily in their protection. But that is not trivial. Because if a farmer lets his land get wet again, this also has consequences for his neighbors. There is also a lot of potential for conflict.
Alliances as an answer
After all, completely new partnerships are now opening up. The farmers’ association is trying to get closer to the nature conservation ring, and the environment and agriculture ministries, which have recently been blocking each other as best they can, have now sealed a “strategic alliance”. On top of that, Environment Minister Steffi Lemke (Greens) is an agricultural engineer. “We now have an environment minister with a knowledge of agriculture and an agriculture minister who doesn’t have a bad attitude but is pragmatic,” says Martin Hofstetter, an agricultural expert at Greenpeace. “There is music in the constellation.”