The Bavarian asparagus farmers are opening their 2023 harvest season with economic worries. The self-proclaimed “asparagus fan”, Prime Minister Markus Söder, and Minister of Agriculture Michaela Kaniber (both CSU) came to the official start on Thursday in a cultivation company in Nuremberg’s garlic region. Together with the Franconian asparagus queen Veronika Hussnätter, they officially opened the asparagus season.
In some regions of Bavaria, for example around Schrobenhausen, the harvest of asparagus grown under plastic has been underway since the end of March. Kaniber praised the freshness of the vegetables as a nutritional component. “Bavarian asparagus is usually still on the local plates on the day of harvest. You can simply taste this unbeatable freshness,” said the minister. The quality is secured by an EU regional seal and made visible to the consumer.
The asparagus farmers are under enormous pressure, said the managing director of the Southern Bavaria Cultivation Association, Peter Strobl, of the German Press Agency. The increase in the statutory minimum wage has driven up the costs significantly. The cultivation of the noble vegetable is very expensive, two to three harvest workers are needed per hectare of cultivation area. At the Bavarian asparagus farms, 90 percent of these come from Romania.
Söder also pointed out the difficult working conditions under which asparagus had to be harvested. It is often not easy for the farmers to recruit workers who are willing to do the physically demanding work. Weather and water are also factors. “We have to think about a lot so that this can be maintained in the long term,” said Söder.