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Start of harvest in Dahme/Mark, Brandenburg
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Patrick Pleul / dpa
Due to the persistent drought in many regions of Germany, the farmers are facing a below-average harvest - with regional differences.
»All in all, it is too dry in many parts of Germany.
Ultimately, this also means that we will bring in a smaller harvest for the second year in a row,” said the President of the German Farmers’ Association (DBV), Joachim Rukwied, at the start of the harvest in Dahme/Mark in Brandenburg.
The farmers are also worried about the energy crisis because of the Russian war of aggression in Ukraine.
From the DBV President's point of view, the availability of gas is decisive for the reliable supply of food.
Three percent less grain expected
The German Farmers' Association expects a grain harvest of around 41.2 million tons.
The forecasts are three percent below the previous year's result.
It was 42.3 million tons.
Harvest yields from 2015 to 2020 were even higher, averaging 44.2 million tons.
In large parts of the country, less rain fell than usual, and the water reserves in the ground are still far too low.
Contrary to the trend, some farms also expected a good harvest, said Rukwied.
The further course of the weather in the coming months will be decisive for the autumn crops.
These prospects are "another piece of the jigsaw puzzle of negative events," said Rukwied, referring to the forecast lower crop yields in Europe and internationally important growing regions such as the USA.
The food situation is tense globally, also because of the energy crisis.
Ruckwied was pessimistic as to whether the farmers would be able to keep their harvests stable in the coming years.
The massive restrictions imposed by the EU Commission would lead to a significant drop in crop yields across Europe, he explained.
"In view of the dramatic food shortages in some countries, triggered by the war in Ukraine, it is shameful that Europe is not trying to help here, although we could," Rukwied criticized: "We farmers feel a moral obligation to do so and are prevented from doing so by politics.«
Rukwied: Gas prioritization for the entire food industry
Rukwied was concerned about the political decision by Federal Economics Minister Robert Habeck (Greens) to declare the second alarm level for gas.
Agriculture in particular is dependent on gas as the main source of energy.
"We need gas for the production of nitrogen fertilizer." If this were missing, the crop yields would collapse significantly, the farmer president warned.
Yields could drop to as much as 40 percent.
He called for gas to be prioritized for the entire food sector.
Katrin Wenz, agricultural expert at the Bund für Umwelt und Naturschutz Deutschland (BUND), considers a change in consumption to be necessary in view of the escalating problems on the international agricultural markets and the massive increase in grain prices.
But that needs to be encouraged politically.
"The excessive per capita consumption of meat and dairy products in Germany takes up too much land worldwide that we could use for food instead of growing animal feed," said Wenz.
According to the farmers' association, the area of cereal cultivation in Germany has hardly changed compared to the previous year - but the composition is different.
While less oats are being cultivated, the area under spring wheat is expected to have grown by almost three quarters compared to the previous year.
The area under spring barley will therefore increase by a fifth.
The area for winter rape has increased slightly.
Because of the currently good prices on the market, the upward trend could continue with this year's autumn sowing, according to the association.
This could relieve the market for vegetable oils, which lacked large quantities from Ukraine.
atb/dpa/AFP
