It’s the week of protests. Although the federal government has withdrawn parts of its austerity plans, farmers remain angry. What drives them onto the streets? Three farmers give answers.
Melanie Schmitt grows vegetables and grains on 150 hectares of arable land in the Vorderpfalz. “Without irrigation, we can neither grow potatoes nor onions in this region,” says the farmer. She gets the water for the irrigation systems from a well.
The pump motors required for this run on diesel. Just like their traffickers. The farmer currently receives several thousand euros a year from the state as part of the agricultural diesel reimbursement. “If the refund is no longer available, it will really hurt me.”
Melanie Schmitt, vegetable farmer: “If the refund stops coming, it will really hurt me.”
Disappointed with politics
Schmitt, who is deputy district chairwoman of the Farmers and Winegrowers Association of the Vorderpfalz, compares the sum to several months’ salary that an employee would lose. She and several other farmers have protested several times this week with her tractor.
She is still disappointed with politics. The fact that the agricultural diesel refund should only be phased out gradually is not a satisfactory compromise for them. “It’s just postponed, not canceled.” And Schmitt emphasizes that she cannot simply pass on the additional costs she incurs to her customers because she is competing with food from other countries in the supermarket.
Magdalena Zelder, farmer: “A kick in the butt for us farmers.”
Additional costs of up to 8,000 euros
Magdalena Zelder, a farmer from the Vulkaneifel, is also angry. That’s why she not only takes part in the farmers’ protests, but also helps organize them in her region. “The federal government’s revised plans also mean additional costs for us per year. I assume up to 8,000 euros.”
Zelder and her husband run a farm with 100 dairy cows. They would not be able to generate what they would need to close the financial gap in the future. “The dairy sets the prices.” They will therefore lack the money in the future in the company. “What the government is doing is a kick in the ass for us farmers,” criticizes Zelder.
The last straw
For Kristin Antweiler, the federal government’s plans were the last straw. She runs a winery with her parents in Rheinhessen and actually wants to take over the management soon. “I’m demonstrating because as a young generation we no longer see any future prospects. We lack planning security.” What good is the greatest passion if you can’t make a living from it? “The federal government makes decisions overnight without assessing the consequences,” criticizes Antweiler, who is on the board of the Rheinhessen-Pfalz rural youth group.
The winemaker says she cannot yet estimate exactly how much the gradual reduction in agricultural diesel reimbursement will cost her family business. “It’s not that this decision will immediately ruin us. But if we don’t defend ourselves now, we’ll soon be in a situation where we have to stop.” In addition, there is currently no real drive alternative for machines of the size and performance needed in agriculture, says Antweiler.
Kristin Antweiler, winemaker: “What’s the use of the greatest passion if you can’t make a living from it.”
Pent-up resentment
Thomas Herzfeld from the Leibniz Institute for Agricultural Development in Transition Economies believes that the dissatisfaction of farmers in Germany is entirely understandable. In principle, the abolition of the agricultural diesel reimbursement instrument makes sense. “The manner of the announcement and the transition processes is now very sudden,” emphasizes the agricultural policy expert. Existing tax breaks would be eliminated in the very short term, which would of course be perceived negatively by those affected. As a rule, however, this only represents a small proportion of the total subsidies for agricultural businesses. So there has to be more to it. “This shows resentment that has been pent up over a long period of time.”
Vegetable farmer Melanie Schmitt and winemaker Kristin Antweiler have long felt that politicians have not treated them fairly and are bothered by the increasing number of plant protection and fertilizer regulations. This puts them at a competitive disadvantage compared to products from other countries, they say. Just like the increased minimum wage. Livestock farmer Zelder also criticizes the fact that the regulations for farmers have become more and more frequent, which causes additional work and additional costs.
Subsidies for climate protection and animal welfare
Agricultural expert Herzfeld emphasizes that requirements for plant protection and fertilizer use are determined by EU guidelines. The differences here should therefore not be that big, at least within the EU. However, when it comes to wages and tax breaks, they also exist within the EU. “However, it cannot be stated that the situation in Germany would be worse compared to the average of the EU members.”
Fundamentally, agriculture is a tough business, emphasizes Herzfeld. Long working hours, increasing demands on management skills and fluctuating prices and therefore profits are common. “Therefore, subsidies for agriculture are not fundamentally a bad thing,” says the agricultural expert. But the current ones are too general. “In the future, they should be based on the services provided by agriculture for environmental and climate protection as well as animal welfare.”
Kristin Antweiler says that winemakers have long been taking aspects of sustainability and climate protection into account; that is also part of studies and training. “But if the transport transition doesn’t even succeed in private passenger transport, why do we expect it from us family businesses?” She is therefore convinced that the farmers’ protest is important and right. “We have to show ourselves on a large scale so that everyone notices,” she says.
Dairy farmer Magdalena Zelder doesn’t mind getting up at five o’clock every morning to feed and milk the cows – and of course she is in favor of greater animal welfare.
She is a passionate farmer, but the federal government’s plans are at the expense of the farmers. The reimbursement for agricultural diesel must be maintained. “That’s why we’re standing up now and protesting. And if the federal government doesn’t withdraw its plans, we’ll continue to fight,” says Zelder.
More appreciation required
Melanie Schmitt sometimes wonders whether, as an agricultural engineer, she wouldn’t have a better work-life balance in a company. She regularly has to work 70 hours a week, while a four-day week is being discussed in other areas.
Schmitt would like to see more appreciation for the work of farmers from politics and society. She was very happy about the positive feedback from the population about the protest over the past few days. The farmer now hopes that the protest will also have an impact on the federal government.