Spring and summer time always means asparagus time.
The vegetable harvest has begun.
But the farmers are concerned.
Dortmund – Spring is here, the days are getting longer.
With the Lenz, popular cooking ingredients are back on the menu in German kitchens.
Wild garlic, which can now be gathered, is just one example.
Another is asparagus.
The harvest season is beginning now, but local farmers are worried, RUHR24 knows.
Asparagus season starts in Germany: Consumers are more likely to choose cheaper imports
There are two reasons for concern.
On the one hand, dumping prices from abroad are causing problems for farmers.
On the other hand, the increase in the minimum wage from 10.45 euros to 12 euros: "Our companies are also burdened by the increased minimum wage of 12 euros in European competition," said Farmer President Joachim Rukwied of the German Press Agency (dpa
)
.
Inflation and the energy crisis did the rest: In view of rising food costs, consumers tended to resort to cheaper imports from abroad instead of the comparatively expensive domestic asparagus.
It is not for nothing that the plant is also called “white gold”.
The same problem also applies to strawberries, by the way.
Farmers alarmed: Asparagus threatens to disappear in Germany
Farmer President Rukwied is sounding the alarm due to the current developments: "There is a real danger that asparagus and strawberry production will disappear in Germany as a result."
Some fields were not harvested last year because it was no longer worthwhile for the farmers.
According to the Federal Statistical Office, the asparagus harvest of 110,300 tons was almost eight percent lower than in 2021 (more consumer news at RUHR24.de).
Asparagus production in Germany is declining: Less acreage is also being cultivated
Fred Eickhorst, Managing Director and Board Spokesman of the Association of Asparagus and Berry Growers in Lower Saxony, fears that there will be even less this year: "I do believe that we will harvest ten to 15 percent less area than last year."
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Asparagus threatens to disappear in Germany.
There are several reasons for this.
© UJ Alexander/Imago
The Federal Statistical Office identifies another reason for the decline in the asparagus harvest that there is less acreage.
In 2022, asparagus was grown on almost 21,300 hectares, the area was 5 percent smaller than in the previous year.
Farmers have to master the asparagus balancing act: between competition and profit
While the German asparagus and strawberry farmers are walking on their gums, consumers do not have to fear any major changes for the time being.
A price explosion - apart from the usual price increase - is not to be expected.
Simon Schumacher, spokesman for the board of directors of the South German Farmers' Association, suspected
that the price for this year's asparagus would level off at the average of the last two years
.
The weather also has a major influence.
The first asparagus spears are already on the supermarket shelves at the end of March.
According to the Association of Southern German Asparagus and Strawberry Growers eV VSSE,
the national average
price for a kilo of asparagus was 11.95 euros last year .
For the German asparagus farmers it is again this year that they have to do the balancing act: remain competitive with imported asparagus and still make a profit from the asparagus harvest.
Rubric list image: © UJ Alexander/Imago
