As of: January 19, 2024, 7:03 p.m
By: Cefina Gomez
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Can you stay afloat in old age by farming?
Hops and malt are not lost yet, but the prospects are anything but rosy.
Frankfurt – There is less and less evidence of rural agriculture with a rural idyll.
This is primarily due to the high economic pressure that is making life increasingly difficult for people in agriculture.
The farmers' protests once again illustrate how much the future of agriculture is at risk.
As a result of the protests, residents in Frankfurt and the surrounding area must also expect traffic disruptions.
Actually, farmers could just grit their teeth and wait for their well-deserved pension.
Easier said than done, because a pension that fully ensures survival in old age can hardly be achieved through pure farming.
Most farmers' pensions are modest.
© Stephanie Pilick/dpa/picture alliance
The farmers’ fight for retirement provision – that’s what the farm levy has to do with it
Like all citizens in Germany born after 1964, farmers also have the right to apply for a pension at the age of 67.
A gradual adjustment of the retirement age applies to older age groups.
However, this is not regulated by the statutory pension insurance, but by the social insurance for agriculture, forestry and horticulture (SVLFG).
The amount of the pension depends on whether and for how long farmers have paid into this special fund.
Until a few years ago, farmers also had to struggle with the farm levy clause.
In other words, only those who have sold their farm or leased it for at least nine years or closed it down receive a pension.
According to a report by
NDR,
the specialist lawyer for agricultural law and inheritance law Jutta Sieverdingbeck-Lewers sued several farmers against this clause for nine years and was proven right.
According to the Constitutional Court, the farm levy has been unconstitutional since 2018.
People who work in agriculture have a different pension system
However, the agricultural pension system is enormously different from what we know.
While the pension payment is calculated as a percentage of income, agricultural employees pay a standard contribution into the pension fund.
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The aim of agricultural social insurance (SVLFG) is not to provide complete old-age security, as is the case with the statutory pension.
The aim here is simply to have a retirement fund as a second pillar of pension provision, which is why we also speak of partial insurance in this context.
According to the SVLFG, farmers receive a gross pension of 520.59 euros per month for 30 years of contributions, regardless of special circumstances, and supporting family members receive a gross pension of 260.61 euros
(as of July 1, 2023)
.
Can farmers still cope with pensions in old age?
It is hardly possible for most farmers to finance their entire retirement provision with an agricultural company.
According to the Federal Ministry of Food and Agriculture, farmers need additional support in old age, for example through retirement benefits, rental income or private provision.
“It is probably difficult to earn enough from farming alone to save money in addition to contributions to the retirement fund if you are not also active in other fields,” estimates lawyer Sieverdingbeck-Lewers when asked by the editorial team.
The office provides a contribution subsidy for lower-income farmers.
In 2023, this subsidy will amount to up to 286 euros per month.
But this subsidy could also be insufficient without additional measures.
Most recently, farmers tried to protect the earth from drought in the summer of last year in order to save the harvest.
(cg)