The prices are in the basement, the feed is getting more and more expensive and an end to the swine fever is not in sight.
Before Julia Klöckner's industry summit, calls for an exit bonus for pig farmers are loud.
But there is contradiction from Bavaria.
Munich / Berlin
- When it comes to Bavaria's pig farmer, Farmer President Walter Heidl finds drastic words. "You are burning money at the moment." The market is in a "total imbalance". The producer prices are low, the feed for the animals is expensive and at the same time the state is increasing the animal welfare requirements of the farmers. “The situation is dramatic,” says Heidl. There is a threat of a massive breakdown in pig farming in Germany and Bavaria.
According to the State Statistical Office, 45 percent of pig farms in Bavaria alone have given up over the past ten years. The trend looks similar at the federal level. The current price crisis is fueled by the export restrictions that have been in place in Germany since the outbreak of African swine fever. In addition, the reputation of pork has suffered among nutrition-conscious consumers. In view of the explosive situation, Federal Agriculture Minister Julia Klöckner invites you to an industry meeting today. Short-term solutions are to be found in order to cope with the sales crisis. But how can that be achieved?
The interest group of pig farmers in Germany (ISN) meanwhile, among other measures, no longer excludes an exit bonus for pig farmers. Because the large supply of pork is also driving the price down. In the Netherlands there was huge interest in an exit program introduced because of environmental problems. And in Germany, too, many farmers could imagine a state-supported exit from pig farming, as a survey by researchers from Kiel University of (predominantly northern German) pig farmers shows.
But not everyone likes an exit bonus. Greenpeace agricultural expert Martin Hofstetter, for example, sees the risk of “deadweight effects”. If the state subsidizes new stables elsewhere at the same time, that would be a pretty nonsensical measure. “Only companies that have long-term prospects should benefit from short-term interventions in the market, because they are ready to switch to climate-friendly, environmentally friendly and animal-friendly production,” he demands.
Bavaria's farmer president Heidl is also not completely convinced of the exit bonus. He fears that smaller companies in particular, as they are more common in Bavaria than anywhere else in Germany, would take the opportunity to exit. “That would accelerate the structural change.” Instead, Heidl appeals to retailers. On Friday there will also be a crisis discussion between farmers and politicians and retailers in Bavaria. “We need to be fair to one another.” It cannot be that consumer prices keep rising while producer prices remain in the basement. “The food retail trade is filling up its coffers, that's dubious.” In order to bridge the price crisis, Heidl calls for a moratorium on all additional requirements for animal welfare owners.In the long term, there is finally a need for an overall concept for future prospects for livestock husbandry. The Borchert Commission had made suggestions on how this could be financed.
The Bavarian Ministry of Agriculture is also critical of an exit bonus, as a spokesman said when asked. For Bavaria, this makes no sense, because the level of self-sufficiency with pork is only around 96 percent and just under 70 percent of the piglets required are born in Bavaria. Instead, the federal government must, on the one hand, quickly reach agreements with countries like China so that exports are possible again. In addition, the industry would have to concentrate more on the markets on the doorstep and set itself apart from the standard goods with local quality meat.
