The Agriculture Minister’s attempt to transform animal husbandry in Germany is pitiful – and it comes far too late. His plan has little chance of being implemented anyway.
For a long, far too long time, Cem Özdemir has been putting off the urgently needed restructuring of animal husbandry in Germany. This point is just one of many on the list of disappointed hopes after more than two years in office of the Green Federal Agriculture Minister. The expectations were high; Özdemir wanted to make agriculture more sustainable and at the same time take farmers with him on this journey, that was his promise. But things turned out differently. Instead, tax exemptions for agricultural diesel and agricultural machinery should be canceled in order to meet savings targets set by Finance Minister Christian Lindner (FDP). The result: an unprecedented wave of protest from the peasantry.