Organic farming: lack of funds in Germany
November 18, 2019 at 11:20 AM ,
Der AUDITOR
…which represent Germany’s ecological farmers, processors and traders very much welcomes this step, Chairman Dr Felix Prinz zu Löwenstein also criticises a fundamental lack of funds in the organic sector.
Payments need to be realigned
Löwenstein remarks that raising the direct payments by 1.5% is an important first step. Problem, however, is that in “two years' time, the state programmes will run out of funds to provide all conventional farmers who intend to switch to organic farming with planning reliability”. He also sees considerable problems with the way in which CAP operates and calls to render agricultural politics more efficient in supporting the organic sector.
The aim must be to adapt CAP gradually in a way so that farms are rewarded for investing in services of general interest such as protecting the climate or species rather than for simply owning land. It is important that agricultural payments are realigned, but not melted down as an overall budget. This is the only way in which the necessary conversion can be carried out together with the farms.
EU invests 40% of budget in agriculture
The agricultural subsidies take up as much as 40% of the EU budget. Germany receives EUR 6.2 billion on agricultural subsidies every year. As much as EUR 5 billion are paid out directly and around EUR 1.3 billion are invested in agri-evironmental programmes and in rural development. The rise in direct payments by 1.5% to 6.0% effectively means that an additional EUR 75 million will be available for farmers, who voluntarily render environmental services every year. To compensate for this, the flat-rate direct payments based on acreage will be cut back by EUR 300 per hectare per year.
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