Bavaria: The minister and eco-statistics – Bavaria

When it comes to organic farmers in Bavaria, Agriculture Minister Michaela Kaniber likes to use superlatives. Bavaria is the federal state with “by far the largest organic area and the most organic farms,” ​​the CSU politician recently announced again. No other federal state is as successful in expanding organic farming as the Free State. The state government pumps 110 million euros a year into its organic farmers, and Bavaria is also at the top when it comes to advice and support in marketing their products.

As far as the numbers are concerned, Kaniber’s words are correct. According to the Federal Ministry of Agriculture, there were 11,527 organic farmers in Bavaria in 2021. Together they cultivated 408,616 hectares of farmland and pasture according to ecological principles. Bavaria thus accounts for 28 percent of organic farmers and a good fifth of all organically managed agricultural land in Germany. In Baden-Württemberg, which follows in second place, there were 10,162 organic farmers, 1,365 fewer than in Bavaria. And with 203,830 hectares of agricultural land, the organic farmers in the Ländle farmed less than half as many fields and pastures as their Bavarian colleagues.

But that’s only one side. If you take the proportion of organic farming in the 13 German non-city states as a benchmark, the picture changes in one fell swoop. Then the Free State, with its 13.8 percent quota of organic farmers, only ranks eighth – so in the lower midfield. Baden-Württemberg and the small Saarland are tied at the top with a rate of 26.4 percent each, followed by Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania (24.4 percent). Brandenburg (19.6 percent), Hesse (16 percent), Saxony-Anhalt (15.2 percent) and Saxony (14.2 percent) also rank ahead of Bavaria.

No other federal state has been as successful in expanding organic farming as the Free State, says Minister of Agriculture Michaela Kaniber.

(Photo: Catherine Hess)

The ranking for the Free State in terms of the shares of organic agricultural land is similarly modest. With a rate of 19.4 percent, Saarland is at the top, followed by Hesse (16.2 percent), Brandenburg (15.5 percent), Baden-Württemberg (14.5 percent) and Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania (14. 1 percent). Only then – in sixth place and thus only in the middle again – comes Bavaria with its 13.2 percent share of organic agricultural land.

Of course, one can fundamentally question the usefulness of such rankings. Even in the Bavarian agricultural administration there are said to be some who believe that Kaniber’s constant talk about the Free State’s top position in agriculture in general and organic farming in particular is not entirely free of “typical old Bavarian power-mongering”. But if you make such rankings, then they should at least be fair. ÖDP politician Agnes Becker said that again these days.

Agricultural policy: The ÖDP politician Agens Becker speaks of "deception" and "eyewash".

ÖDP politician Agens Becker speaks of “deception” and “window dressing”.

(Photo: Peter Kneffel/dpa)

Becker, who gained a certain notoriety four years ago as spokeswoman for the extremely successful “People’s Petition for Biodiversity – Save the Bees,” is very annoyed by Kaniber’s way of comparing countries. She calls it “deception” and “window dressing”. The reason is the figures that the minister uses for this. “If I only use the absolute numbers of farms and organic farmland, nothing else can come out on top than Bavaria,” she says. “After all, Bavaria is the largest federal state, with the largest agricultural area and the most farms.” For a real ranking, says Becker, you need a fair standard. “But that can only be the proportion of organic farmers and the organic area on the farms and the agricultural area in the respective federal state.”

Just as Kaniber’s experts do with the inner-Bavarian eco-ranking. The State Institute for Agriculture, which is affiliated with the Ministry of Agriculture, has only recently published another one. The Bavarian organic leader is therefore the Upper Bavarian district of Miesbach. The ranking is based on the proportion of organically farmed agricultural land in the total agricultural area in a district. In the district of Miesbach, the organic area quota is 39 percent.

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