The asparagus harvest is in full swing. Because of the wet, cold spring, things got off to a slow start. But not only the weather makes things difficult for asparagus farmers.
“Good morning!” Lisa Kraft calls from her car to a Polish harvest worker who is already on the way. The farmer from Naunheim is on her way to her fields early in the morning. “When it’s dry and warm early in the year, we start harvesting asparagus at the end of March. Normally, the start is at the beginning of May,” explains the 34-year-old. This year, however, the harvest of the white stalks fell through in April. “We couldn’t start until late because it was constantly too wet. And it was also far too cold for asparagus. That’s why we were only able to really get going ten days ago.” The farm and fields cover around 200 hectares. In addition to asparagus, grain, rapeseed and sugar beet are also grown here.
The rainy spring put the family business under pressure because many regular customers didn’t want to wait until the beginning of May for asparagus. Demand was particularly high at Easter – like every year. The asparagus farmer from the north of Rhineland-Palatinate had to buy from the competition in the southern Palatinate. It was a few degrees warmer there. In addition, the soil there is sandy and dries faster – ideal conditions for the spring vegetables. “Gastronomy wanted asparagus for Easter. We don’t want to lose our customers. That’s why we started with purchased asparagus.”
In the meantime, Lisa Kraft’s asparagus harvest is in full swing.
more different minimum wage
The tips are now glistening on Lisa Kraft’s asparagus fields. Now the harvest must be quick. As every year, a group of seasonal workers from Poland come for the harvest. The minimum wage in this country has risen to twelve euros. Abroad, on the other hand, employers have to pay significantly less: In Spain it is currently 6.55 euros, in Greece 4.12 euros. In Italy there is no lower wage limit. The king vegetables are imported to Germany from these countries in particular.
“The work in the field is hard and my colleagues here also earn the twelve euros,” explains Lisa Kraft. “But in the end we can hardly keep up in this price competition in the long run. We need a uniform minimum wage within the EU. That would then be fair market opportunities for everyone – including us farmers.” Customers are still willing to pay the extra price. But for how long?” asks the farmer’s wife and shrugs her shoulders. “I’m already worried in general – not just about growing asparagus, but also about growing fruit and vegetables. We produce here in Germany according to the highest standards.”
The price pressure has already had consequences on the farm: Due to rising labor costs, Lisa Kraft had to reduce her asparagus area by 20 percent. Instead, grain now grows on the land. It’s not that labor intensive and therefore still competitive.
sinking asparagus production in Germany
The farm in Naunheim is not the exception, but the rule. This is shown by figures from the German Farmers’ Association. According to this, asparagus cultivation in Germany has declined over the past five years. The amount of asparagus harvested recently fell by 17 percent – to 110,000 tons. The acreage has also shrunk over the same period. Almost 20,000 tons of the stick vegetables were recently imported from abroad. The most important country of origin was Spain, followed by Greece and Italy.
The share of German asparagus on the market in this country is still over 80 percent. Farmer President Joachim Rukwied is happy about that. “The asparagus lovers prefer local and regional goods above all.” He is therefore in favor of labeling the origin of other types of fruit and vegetables and processed products on the packaging.
Rukwied is also worried about the different minimum wages in the EU. “The increase in the minimum wage to twelve euros an hour has become a very big challenge for German farmers. Local producers cannot keep up under these unequal competitive conditions. If we want to keep Germany as a business location, we need to align the minimum wage at European level . If that doesn’t happen, the production of labour-intensive crops will gradually migrate from Germany.”
Stable prices in the farm shop
The asparagus that has just been harvested has arrived on Lisa Kraft’s farm. First it goes to a car wash. Then the stick vegetables go into a cooling system and some are also peeled – so again a lot of manual work. The electricity costs for the company have also increased immensely, calculates Lisa Kraft’s father, Heinrich Feils. “I can’t give exact figures yet, but it will be 8,000 to 9,000 euros more this year. Of course I could try to get higher prices at the counter, but that’s very difficult.”
This is exactly what is shown in the farm shop: Despite higher production costs, asparagus costs the same as last year, namely between seven and 14 euros. Customers shouldn’t be scared away, because they too are already suffering from the general rise in prices at the gas station or in the supermarket.
“Of course you notice that the prices have risen, but you also want to support the businesses here,” says Ilona Müller, who regularly shops here for her family. Freshness and regionality are important to customers. But here the customers are calculating more and more precisely. “You don’t have to have your first asparagus in the first two weeks, then the price goes down a bit,” says Thomas Wagner, for example. He saves on other things to continue shopping at Lisa Kraft.
farmer’s vocation
Heinrich Feils wants to hand over the entire farm to his daughter next year. He has run the business since 1986. The farmer is convinced of his successor, but he has doubts about future market opportunities. “My daughter has to know for herself whether asparagus makes economic sense. If it’s not worth it, then she has to do something else.” Lisa Kraft definitely wants to continue. Bringing food from the field to the plate, says the farmer, is her calling.