In view of the tense international agricultural markets as a result of the Ukraine war, farmers in Germany should be able to plant grain on more land than previously planned. According to a compromise proposal by Agriculture Minister Cem Özdemir (Greens), the new EU regulations on set-aside and crop rotation are to be suspended once in the coming year. Brussels had left the implementation of the requirements to the respective EU states.
Species protection versus food security
The background to this is EU regulations that will come into effect from 2023, according to which part of the agricultural land should serve to protect species. In addition, the cultivation of the same arable crop two years in a row on the same area should no longer be possible – for the purpose of soil protection.
According to the ministry, the mandatory set-aside will be suspended once in the coming year. Instead, agricultural cultivation should continue to be possible, "however – in line with the objectives of the Commission proposal – limited to the production of food".
Plan does not affect corn or soybeans
This applies to grain crops – without corn -, sunflowers and legumes – without soybeans. In addition, the proposal only applies to the areas that were not already designated as fallow arable land in 2021 and 2022. "The existing biodiversity areas will thus continue to be protected and can provide their services for nature and species protection as well as sustainable agriculture," says the ministry.
According to Özdemir, Russian President Vladimir Putin is playing with hunger – and he is doing this at the expense of the poorest in the world. At the same time, hunger is greatest where the climate crisis is already having serious consequences.
Farmers' association calls for further extension
The President of the German Farmers' Association, Joachim Rukwied, welcomed the proposal in principle, but also criticized it: "This decision was overdue and came at the last minute". While Özdemir said the farms now know what they can sow in a few weeks, Rukwied said:
The Farmers' Association also criticized the current schedule: A suspension for one year is not enough from Rukwied's point of view. In order to continue to guarantee a secure food supply and to be able to react in times of crisis, all areas must be able to be used on which it makes agricultural sense. The federal states would now have to confirm this quickly.
Greenpeace sees food security as a pretext
Fundamental criticism of Özdemir's plans came from the environmental organization Greenpeace. Your expert Matthias Lambrecht said that the areas to protect biodiversity would be sacrificed to economic interests. "But food security in times of war is just a pretext for plowing under valuable biotopes," he said. Wheat grown there would not be available until next year and in insufficient quantities to effectively counteract the acute global hunger crisis. With an exit from biofuel, a multiple of the amount of grain could be provided immediately. Environmental aid also called for all subsidies for agrofuel to be stopped immediately and for land to be reallocated to food production.
Approval for Özdemir's proposal, on the other hand, came from Baden-Württemberg and from the FDP. Baden-Württemberg's Minister of Agriculture Peter Hauk (CDU), who is also spokesman for the Union-led agricultural departments of the federal states, praised Özdemir for finally giving in. The deputy FDP parliamentary group leader in the Bundestag, Carina Konrad, made a similar statement. Now the regulations must be implemented quickly and with legal certainty, since the sowing is imminent.
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