CONTEXTUAL INFORMATION – GERMANY
Main economic, land use and agricultural characteristics (2002 or latest available)
GDP per capita (USD)
Population density
Agriculture in GDP
236/km2
26 300
Agriculture in employment
1.3%
2.6%
Source: OECD, FAO for population density
Land use (2002)
000 hectares
% of total area
Total area
Forest area
Total agricultural area
Arable land
Grassland
34 895
10 700 (1994)
16 967
11 791
4 970
100
31
50
34
14.5
Source: FAOSTAT – Agriculture Data
Country is dominated by more flat lands in the north-west and more mountain and hilly areas in the
south-east, with a temperate climate. The prospects for farming are less favourable in hilly and
mountainous areas. .The Less Favoured Areas (LFAs) altogether represent about 50% of total agricultural
area. Crop production is dominated by grains (mainly wheat), oilseeds (rapeseed and sunflower) and sugar
beet. Main livestock products are milk, beef and pork.
Since German reunification in 1990 there is a difference in the structure of the farming sectors of the
Old Länder (former West Germany) and the New Länder (former East Germany) and this difference is
maintained up to now. In the New Länder farming contracted sharply following unification, with a
substantial reduction in farm employment. Agriculture in the Old Länder is dominated by livestock, with
over 75% of national cattle, sheep and pigs. The average farm size in the Old Länder is a bit more than
30 hectares. By contrast the New Länder have larger farms (200 hectares on average) which are more
oriented to crop production (more capital and less labour intensive).
Agricultural policies and support to agriculture
Germany is a funding member of the European Union (EU), and is thus embraced by the EU's
Common Agricultural Policy (CAP), which is based on the following three principles: (i) a common
market with common prices; (ii) community preference, and (iii) common financing.
The Agenda 2000 Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) reform package provided the basic legislative
framework governing agricultural policy for the period 2000 – 2006. This reform package entailed a
gradual reduction of administered prices for cereals, and for beef and veal, which is partially compensated
by direct payments. Market price support, where applied, is provided through institutional prices, export
subsidies, tariffs and tariff-rate quotas (TRQs) and is often combined with production quotas or land set-
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aside. In 2002, Country agriculture received total payments of 8 billion, of which 80% were financed from
EU Funds (EAGGF).
The 2003 reform of the CAP in the EU created the Single Payment Scheme, which replaces to varying
degrees according to the choices of each Member State the existing set of payments and premia (For more
information on the reforms of the CAP, see Analysis of the 2003 CAP Reform). Member states have
decided how the payment will be made, the degree to which their payment entitlements, based on the
reference years 2000-02, will be rolled into the single payment, and the year in which these changes will
take effect, which must in any event be before 2007.
Germany has chosen to include the maximum amount of payments in the single payment, although
25% of the hop payment and 60% of the tobacco payment will remain commodity-specific until 2009. The
dairy payment is integrated into the single payment from 2005. All aids will be cut by 1% to create a
national reserve. New cross-compliance measures and mandatory modulation apply. So the full granting of
the single payment and other direct payments will be linked to the respect of a certain number of statutory
environmental, food safety, animal and plant health as well as animal welfare standards. Another important
element of the 2003 reform of the CAP is the so called “modulation”, which means that a certain part of
the budget of the total amount of the decoupled payments of the CAP is transferred to rural development
(in 2005 3%; 2006 4%; from 2007 5%)
The EU Rural Development Regulation of Agenda 2000 (RPR) or "second pillar" of the CAP includes
measures such as agri environmental measures, farm investment schemes, improving and developing
infrastructure in rural areas, early retirement schemes, reforestation, and payments to assist farmers in
Least Favoured Areas (LFAs). These measures are co financed by EU member States, which can draw
from the list of available measures to design programmes that can be tailored to the specific conditions
facing their rural areas. Other measures such as farm investment, the installation of young farmers,
training, investment aid for processing and marketing facilities, additional assistance for forestry,
promoting the adaptation and development of rural areas, are also co-financed by EU member States.
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Figure 1. Figure 1 Support to agriculture: European Union
(Percentage PSE, structure of PSE)
%PSE
100
100%
2003p
2002
2001
2000
1999
1998
1997
1996
1995
0
1994
0%
1993
20
1992
20%
1991
40
1990
40%
1989
60
1988
60%
1987
80
1986
80%
Other
Payments based on historical entitlements
Payments based on area planted/animal numbers
Market Price Support, payments based on output and on input use
%PSE
Note : The Secretariat estimates of the level of support to agriculture (Producer support estimate – PSE) for the EU as
a whole and not for single EU member countries.
Source: OECD, PSE/CSE database, 2004
Agri-environmental policies
Reducing the environmental impact of agriculture and implementing a sustainable and ecologically
compatible use or maintenance of the land is a key political objective of the Federal Government and the
federal states (Länder). Regulations are the responsibility of the Federal Government and the Länder. But
there are also regional initiatives. Depending on the individual measure, funds either come from the EU,
the Federal Government and/or the Länder budget.
Germany uses a variety of agri-environmental policy instruments. Apart from statutory regulations
within the scope of specialist laws or binding conditionalities on land use, primarily voluntary agreements
within the framework of agri-environmental measures are applied.
With Articles 22-24 of Regulation (EC) No 1257/1999, the EU laid the legal foundation for agrienvironmental programmes. They are applied by German farms on around 4 million out of 17 million
hectares of agricultural land. The measures eligible for support are particularly eco-friendly methods that
involve more than the application of legal minimum standards. These environmentally more favourable
production methods (e.g. extensive farming, organic farming) are usually linked to economic
disadvantages. Agri-environmental support is provided to compensate for these disadvantages.
Agri-environmental support is, on the one hand, provided in the scope of the "principles for the
promotion of market- and site-adapted farming" within the "Joint Task for the Improvement of Agricultural
Structures and Coastal Protection", i.e. with the technical and financial participation of the Federal
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Government. On the other hand, the Länder have also taken a variety of measures without the involvement
of the Federal Government. Programmes such as national or regional programmes for the conservation of
cultivated areas, contractual nature conservation, the protection of water body margins or the maintenance
of the countryside, provide, among other things, support to extensive or organic farming, the maintenance
of the countryside, biotope protection and contractual nature conservation or particularly compatible
production methods for arable land, grassland or land under permanent crops.
In addition there are other measures in rural areas (e.g. investment promotion, village renewal,
integrated rural development, etc.) which are also relate to agri-environmental aspects. A policy for rural
areas must observe the sustainability principle and address all areas of life, population groups and
economic sectors. In this context, the participation of the various groups at regional level represents a key
element of development. Both the measures taken in the scope of the "Joint Task for the Improvement of
Agricultural Structures and Coastal Protection" and the agri-environmental measures, developed by the
Länder without the participation of the Federal Government, as well as further measures in rural areas are
combined in the so-called "rural development plans" (EU term) by the Länder.
The implementation of regional rural development programmes under the federal rural development plan
for 2000-06 continued. In 2004, agri-environmental measures accounted for almost half of EU funds to the
RDP in Germany. This expenditure is largely aimed at providing payments to farmers to reduce water
pollution and enhance biodiversity conservation. Also there are regulatory measures that enforce certain
environmental farming practices, such as on fertiliser application and livestock densities, while the 1998
Federal Soil Protection Act requires farmers to adopt soil conservation practices. The Federal Organic
Farming Scheme includes a variety of measures at all levels of the food chain, such as research and
development assistance, technology transfer, and training, information and advisory activities. Organic
farming accounts for 4.5% of total farmland. Options for further ecologically-sound and animal-welfare
oriented methods have been considerably extended within the framework of agri-environmental support
under the “Joint Task for the Improvement of Agricultural Structures and Coastal Protection”.
Agriculture is also affected by a number of economy-wide environmental measures. The exemption
on the standard rate of tax on fuels was reduced from 80% to 40% in 2005. In Germany agriculture as the
most important producer of renewable resources has to play a special role in the modernisation of energy
and sustainable resource supply. Renewable resources offer agriculture new outlets and sources of income
in addition to food production. In 2004, renewable biological resources were produced on 1.1 million
hectares (nearly 10% of the cropland).
Under the Renewable Energy Sources Act, grid operater are obliged to buy electricity using a
differentiated feed-in tariff. Biofuels have tax exemptions and biomass installations for heat production are
supported by the Government. Farming is also affected by commitments under international environmental
agreements, in particular, the reduction of nitrate pollution into the Northeast Atlantic (OSPAR
Convention) and the Baltic Sea (HELCOM Convention), and ammonia emissions under the Gothenburg
Protocol.
Notice on information and data accuracy in the Inventory for Germany
Due to the wide variety and great number of measures and bodies concerned, this Inventory cannot
give a complete, systematic and representative picture of the situation in Germany. The OECD Secretariat
has pooled the available information from official sources into this inventory. In so far as this had been
based on the development plans of the year 2000, there might have been several changes and further
developments in the meantime. The Federal Government is unfortunately not in a position to complete and
update these entries. The accuracy of the information provided can therefore not be guaranteed.
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Unfortunately, the entries cannot be completed and updated by the Länder either. The accuracy of the
information cannot be guaranteed.
Sources for additional information (mostly in German)
Federal institutions:
Federal Ministry of Consumer Protection, Food and Agriculture www.verbraucherministerium.de;
Information on individual measures can be obtained by clicking on “Landwirtschaft” and then "Ländlicher
Raum", Gemeinschaftsaufgabe “Verbesserung der Agrarstruktur und des Küstenschutzes (GAK 2005,
Fördergrundsätze, "Landwirtschaft und Umwelt" or "Ökologischer Landbau".
Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety www.bmu.de
Länder ministries:
Baden-Wuerttemberg
Ministry of Food and Rural Affairs of Baden-Wuerttemberg
www.landwirtschaft-mlr.baden-wuerttemberg.de
Brandenburg
Ministry of Agriculture, Environmental Protection and Regional Planning of Brandenburg
www.brandenburg.de/land/mlur
The KULAP 2000 ordinance as well as the Compensation Ordinance in accordance with Article 16 of
Regulation (EC) No 1257/1999 can be found by clicking on "Politik", "Fördermittel", "Landwirtschaft und
Fischerei/Ländlicher Raum".
Bavaria
Bavarian State Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry
http://www.stmlf.bayern.de
Berlin
In agricultural matters, the Länder Berlin and Brandenburg form a single region. With the State Treaty
on the Co-operation of Berlin and Brandenburg in the Field of Agriculture of 17 December 2003, the
administrative tasks of the Land Berlin in the field of agriculture were transferred to the Land
Brandenburg. Beginning with the new EU promotional period from 2007, agricultural support in Berlin
and Brandenburg will be based on a single programme. Further information can be taken from the website
of the Land Brandenburg.
Land Bremen
www.bremen.de
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Hesse
Hessian Ministry of the Environment, Rural Affairs and Consumer Protection. Information on the
Hessian ministry can be found at: http://www.hmulv.hessen.de/ . Information on support measures at:
http://www.hmulv.hessen.de/laendlicher_raum/foerderung/massnahmen_landwirt/hekul/index.php
Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania
Ministry of Food, Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries www.mv-regierung.de/lm. Information on
individual
measures
can
be
obtained
at
"Themen
A-Z",
"Agrarförderung",
"Merkblätter/Förderprogramme", "Ökologischer Landbau" or "Landwirtschaft und Umwelt".
Ministry of the Environment
www.um.mv-regierung.de Information on individual measures can be obtained by clicking on
"Fachinformationen" or "Förderprogramme".
Saarland
Ministry of the Environment http://www.umwelt.saarland.de
Saxony
State Ministry of the Environment and Agriculture of Saxony www.landwirtschaft.sachsen.de
Saxony-Anhalt
Ministry of Agriculture and the Environment of Saxony-Anhalt http://www.mlu.sachsen-anhalt.de
Thuringia
Thuringian Ministry of Agriculture,
http://www.thueringen.de/de/tmlnu
Nature
Conservation
and
the
Environment
North Rhine-Westphalia
Ministry of the Environment, Nature Conservation, Agriculture and Consumer Protection of the Land
of North Rhine-Westphalia www.munlv.nrw.de
Rhineland-Palatinate
Ministry of Economics, Transport, Agriculture and Viticulture www.pflanzenbau.rlp.de under "FUL"
or at http://www.mwvlw.rlp.de
Schleswig-Holstein
Ministry of the Environment, Nature Conservation and Agriculture of Schleswig-Holstein
http://www.umwelt.schleswig-holstein.de
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