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Wine press in Ahrweiler destroyed by the flood: farmers in Rhineland-Palatinate recorded damage of 220 million euros
Photo: Thomas Frey / dpa
With a huge aid fund, the federal and state governments want to promote reconstruction in the areas hit by the flood disaster.
But sometimes other help is also required - for the farmers, for example.
In order to prevent the animals from running out of feed in the barn, they should now also be able to use certain, actually protected areas.
The Federal Cabinet approved a corresponding ordinance by Agriculture Minister Julia Klöckner "We are pragmatically giving farmers affected a helping hand," said the CDU politician.
Many have reported that they lacked forage because of the damage.
On ecological priority areas, it should be possible, as an exception, to mow grass and other plants and to allow more animals to graze than is otherwise permitted.
For this purpose, the federal states should be able to designate areas with a weather-related lack of food.
The Federal Council still has to approve the ordinance; the next regular meeting is on September 17th.
Five million euros in donations for wine growers
In mid-July, severe flooding caused great devastation, especially in North Rhine-Westphalia and the neighboring state of Rhineland-Palatinate. There was also severe damage in Bavaria and Saxony. More than 180 people died. On Wednesday, the federal government launched the EUR 30 billion aid fund for the victims of the devastating floods in July. In addition, the government wants to suspend the obligation to file for insolvency for companies affected by the flood for a longer period of time.
The winegrowers in the red wine region Ahrtal, almost all of whom were affected by the flood disaster in July, are now to receive immediate aid from donations, according to the German Farmers' Association.
A few weeks before the harvest, the particularly affected farms now received 15,000 euros each.
Farmer President Joachim Rukwied said a fundraising campaign brought in more than five million euros for affected farmers and vintners in Rhineland-Palatinate and North Rhine-Westphalia.
The Schorlemer Foundation of the Farmers' Union organized the campaign that started in July.
The managing director of the Ahr Wine Association, Knut Schubert, said: "Only three wineries in the Ahr Valley are not affected by the flood."
The federal government has also promised aid for farmers.
In Rhineland-Palatinate alone, the damage to farmers is estimated at 220 million euros, in North Rhine-Westphalia at 52 million.
apr / dpa
