2024-08-23 15:07:31
Initially, farmers had expected an average summer, but the harvest was disappointing. And farmers are also very frustrated in other areas.
The German Farmers’ Association draws a negative conclusion from this year’s harvest. “The farmers are disappointed. The yields are below those of previous years,” said farmers’ president Joachim Rukwied on the ZDF morning magazine. He spoke of a double disappointment, as the price level is also significantly lower than in previous years. “The frustration in agriculture is great after this harvest, which was then also interrupted by repeated rainfall.”
There has been a decline in grain and rapeseed yields for ten years, said Rukwied. The quality is declining. This is partly due to climate change and partly due to political guidelines. “In some areas we are no longer allowed to fertilize according to need and can no longer protect the plants from pests and infections,” said the farmers’ president.
Despite the poorer harvest, Rukwied does not expect prices to rise for consumers. “I’m not expecting that at the moment.” Food prices have been the stabilizer of inflation for decades. There was a significant increase in food prices between 2022 and 2023. “Our prices have now returned to an unsatisfactory level and our share of the final price is constantly decreasing,” said Rukwied.
In recent weeks, rain has repeatedly slowed down combine harvesters in many regions of Germany. At the start of the harvest in early July, grain quantities were expected to be just below average. But then expectations dimmed.
Referring to the protests by farmers in Germany and Europe a few months ago, Rukwied said that “unjustified tax increases” had been prevented. “We have changed the agricultural policy agenda in Europe.” In Germany, however, new legislative proposals are constantly being introduced that are impractical and unrealistic. The frustration is great: “We have to make adjustments.”