More organic, better animal husbandry, no glyphosate – these were the goals with which Agriculture Minister Özdemir took office around two years ago. What has the Green politician achieved?
He is the agriculture minister of all farms, not of large or small farms, not of conventional or organic. This is how the Green Federal Minister for Agriculture and Food, Cem Özdemir, describes himself in an interview with ARD-Politics magazine panorama. The Green politician obviously wants to be perceived as a centrist minister in other ways too.
While the farmers protested against the planned cuts in climate-damaging benefits for agricultural diesel and vehicle taxes, Özdemir quickly sided with them. “I don’t believe in the cuts on this scale,” he explained at a large demonstration in Berlin. Shortly afterwards, the federal government reversed some of the cuts.
Around two years ago, Özdemir took office to make agriculture more sustainable. Among other things, he wanted to ensure that fewer farm animals were kept in Germany and that they were kept better. Did the Green politician achieve his goals?
Greenpeace: “Two lost years”
Today we are “very far away” from a sustainable system, says agricultural researcher Matin Qaim from the University of Bonn, a member of the renowned National Academy of Sciences. The environmental protection organization Greenpeace even speaks of two lost years.
The Green Minister’s guiding principle is organic agriculture. Because organic has many advantages for biodiversity and animal husbandry, explains Özdemir. But only around 14 percent of the farms operated organically in 2022.
For the vast majority of conventional farming companies, there is currently no sustainability strategy, says agricultural researcher Achim Spiller from the University of Göttingen, chairman of the Federal Government’s Scientific Advisory Board for Agricultural Policy.
Animal husbandry is the biggest construction site
From a scientific perspective, the biggest construction site is animal husbandry. It is responsible for large amounts of greenhouse gas emissions, for high land consumption due to fodder production and for over-fertilization, says agricultural researcher Qaim. He therefore calls for a serious approach to further reduce the consumption of meat and other animal products. To achieve this, the reduced VAT rate for animal products should be removed as quickly as possible, because this would make meat artificially cheaper, says Qaim.
But when asked, Agriculture Minister Özdemir explained that there was no political majority for this. It seems uncertain whether anything will change after the farmers’ protests, but this and similar proposals, such as an animal welfare tax, are now being discussed again.
Greenpeace agricultural expert Martin Hofstetter even calls for the number of farm animals to be halved by 2045 in order to protect the climate. According to Hofstetter, Özdemir continued to delay the necessary transformation.
One billion euros for better stables
In order to enable better animal husbandry, for example through new stables, Özdemir is now making around one billion euros available to farmers. But from a scientific perspective, that is far too little.
The Federal Government’s Scientific Advisory Board for Agricultural Policy had already calculated many years ago that a total of around three to five billion euros per year would be needed to convert animal husbandry. The one billion euros is at least more money than his predecessors, emphasizes the Federal Minister of Agriculture panorama-Interview. He is also fighting for more money in the coalition.
However, it is difficult to determine what he is fighting for in the debate about new genetic breeding methods. The current issue in the European Union is whether new plant breeding technologies should be regulated less strictly in the future.
No clear stance on genetic engineering?
The Greens have clearly spoken out against genetic engineering in their basic program. But even when asked, the Agriculture Minister avoids taking a clear position here. On the other hand, he repeatedly emphasizes: “We need real coexistence.” He is in favor of ensuring that the market that is GMO-free can continue to be so in the future.
There is a broad consensus in science that the new genetic techniques are no more risky than conventional breeding methods. Agricultural scientist Qaim points to the great opportunities to make plant breeding more precise, efficient and faster. If you look at the big challenges such as climate change, you should use this potential, says Qaim.
Glyphosate is still permitted
In any case, farmers are allowed to continue using the controversial pesticide glyphosate, even though the coalition agreement states: “We will take glyphosate off the market by 2023.” Özdemir would have liked to have voted against extending approval for the drug in the EU, but his coalition partner FDP was in favor of continued use. If an agreement cannot be reached, the consequence is abstention, said Özdemir.
Agricultural scientist Spiller believes that reducing all chemical pesticides is more important than banning glyphosate alone. And agricultural researcher Qaim also considers the discussion about a single remedy to be a “sham debate”.
Researchers: Modest mid-term results
Agriculture Minister Özdemir’s mid-term assessment is rather modest for Qaim; overall, “politically very little” has happened. Agricultural expert Hofstetter from Greenpeace sees it similarly and says that the minister avoids any conflict that could damage his image when faced with pressing problems.
He is not known for that now, replied Minister Özdemir when asked panorama-Interview. He points out, for example, that he has introduced an obligation to label the type of husbandry. He could have made it easy for himself, says Özdemir, after all there was already a voluntary attitude label before he took office.
Özdemir: Big ones social challenges
However, the state label is currently only available for pork and only in stores. In the catering industry, meat is still not labeled. Agricultural researcher Spiller also criticizes that the way the animals are kept is taken into account, but not the health of the animals.
Overall, the Green Federal Minister of Agriculture admits that the problems such as the climate crisis and the loss of biodiversity are major. The biggest challenge is to achieve the necessary changes with little money, with the war in Ukraine, with a weariness of change in society and with a polarization between town and country, between East and West.
You can see the entire film “The Farmers and Their Minister” on Thursday, January 18th at 9:45 p.m. on Erste in Panorama and from 6 p.m. in the ARD media library.