Less bureaucracy, more protection for agricultural land and more support for farms with farm animals: Bavaria’s state government and the Bavarian Farmers’ Association (BBV) signed a “future contract for agriculture in Bavaria” on Monday at a ceremony in Munich. Prime Minister Markus Söder (CSU) spoke of a “trend-setting commitment”. Bavaria will provide up to 120 million euros annually for farmers and support them in the challenges of the coming years.
Agriculture Minister Michaela Kaniber (CSU) called agriculture “the foundation of our nutrition, the starting point of the beauty of our homeland and one of the foundations of our prosperity.” The Corona crisis and the war in Ukraine have made it clear how important local farmers are for ensuring food security for the people in the Free State, it says in the preamble to the contract.
At the same time, Söder, Kaniber, BBV President Günther Felßner and BBV state farmer Christine Singer agreed on a ten-point program. This is, for example, about the fight against land consumption, which primarily affects agricultural land, and a limit on the amount of land used for new building land to five hectares per day until 2030.
The state government has been pursuing this goal for almost five years now. But she hasn’t made any progress yet. On the contrary: at ten hectares per day, land consumption is as high as ever. There are also numerous funding and advisory programs, making it easier to shoot wolves, otters and other wild animals, renewable energies, digitalization, regional marketing and the like.
State farmer Christine Singer, farmers’ president Günther Felßner, Prime Minister Markus Söder and Agriculture Minister Michaela Kaniber have now signed a “future contract for agriculture in Bavaria”.
(Photo: Jörg Koch/Bavarian State Chancellery)
What is particularly striking is that organic farming is not mentioned at all in the contract. Söder and Kaniber want to increase the proportion of organic farmers in Bavaria to 30 percent by 2030 and have even made this a legal requirement. However, the state government is now so late with the expansion that it will most likely not be able to keep its promise.
The organic farmers and their associations are not involved in the future contract. Her comments were correspondingly reserved. “In principle, it is welcome when agriculture becomes the focus of the state government,” said the head of the State Association for Organic Farming in Bavaria (LVÖ), Thomas Lang. The organization includes 7,000 organic farmers, the clear majority of organic farmers in Bavaria. LVÖ boss Lang misses the “clear commitment to organic farming” in the contract.
Criticism also came from other organizations. From the perspective of the Federal Association of German Dairy Farmers (BDM), to which many dairy farmers belong and which was also not involved in the contract, the paper does not offer any concepts against recurring price crises on the agricultural markets. “The contract is just a continuation of the traditional agricultural policy,” said BDM spokesman Hans Foldenauer. “He has no real answers to the challenges of the future.” BBV President Felßner, on the other hand, spoke of a “strong signal of departure to our farmers”.