Financial expert warns of the impact of subsidy cuts on agriculture

Financial expert warns of the impact of subsidy cuts on agriculture

bAgriculture Minister Cem Özdemir (Greens) warns of “conditions like those in the USA” if people in rural areas “get under the wheels” in a politics increasingly dominated by city dwellers. He told the newspapers of the “Funke Mediengruppe” on Wednesday. The goal must be to hold the country together in the middle and to prevent people from “accusing each other of all the evil in the world” and no longer talking to each other. In view of the farmers' protests, there needs to be a fundamental discussion about the role of agriculture. At a rally in Ellwangen, Baden-Württemberg, he also said, according to dpa, that he did not agree with the planned subsidy cuts for farmers. If he had been included as a specialist minister, “the decisions would not have been made that way.”

4000 tractors in Dresden

In Ellwangen on Wednesday, Özdemir faced protesting farmers who were demonstrating against the planned reduction in tax benefits for agricultural diesel as part of the protest week called by the farmers' association. Meanwhile, the protests caused further traffic disruptions across the country. The president of the farmers' association, Joachim Rukwied, appeared satisfied with the progress of the protests so far in the ZDF morning magazine. The farmers “have received a lot of support from the population”.

Surveys by Forsa and Yougov support this. In both surveys, more than 70 percent of those surveyed expressed understanding towards the farmers' protests. The data was collected on the first two (Forsa) and three (Yougov) days of the campaign week that has been running since Monday.

The federal government, said Rukwied, could end the demonstrations “by really approaching us.” But government policy comes “from the Berlin bubble, often advised by people who have never worked and have sweated.” If the farmers' demands are not addressed after the announced large demonstration in Berlin on Monday, "then we reserve the right to take further steps," said Rukwied.

With their blockades, farmers brought the container terminal in Bremerhaven to a standstill on Wednesday, among other things. This was announced by the operator Bremenports. Due to the strike by the train drivers' union, rail traffic is also restricted. Ships could neither leave nor enter the port.

According to the state farmers' association, around 4,000 tractors from surrounding districts came to a protest march in Dresden. According to the dpa, more than 70 motorway entrances were temporarily blocked in Brandenburg. Farmer protests were also reported in Mainz, Augsburg, Flensburg and Schwerin. Protest trips have been announced for Thursday in Cottbus, Hamburg, Hanover and Frankfurt am Main, among others.

Farmers' association views new reform commission with skepticism

The Thuringian Farmers' Association reacted with skepticism to the proposal by North Rhine-Westphalia's Prime Minister Hendrik Wüst (CDU) to set up a committee similar to the Coal Commission in view of the ongoing protests. “There was the Borchert Commission, for example, and it stopped even though it did good work,” said the press officer for the Thuringian Farmers’ Association, Katja Förster, on Wednesday. It is therefore questionable how effective another commission would be. The Borchert Commission led by former Federal Agriculture Minister Jochen Borchert (CDU) worked with representatives from agriculture, environmental associations and other interest groups to develop proposals for reforming livestock farming. She finished her job last summer.

At the beginning of the week, the Federal Cabinet decided to reduce agricultural diesel consumption for the current year by only 60 percent of the previous 21.48 cents per liter. The tax relief will then gradually fall over the next two years. This should save around 440 million euros annually from 2027.

According to a report by www.faz.net