Only organic farming profitable: a year of crisis is coming to an end for farmers

Only organic farming is profitable
A year of crisis is coming to an end for farmers

Corona, African swine fever and below-average harvest volumes: The current financial year is not a good one for farmers in Germany. Most of them are making losses – with the exception of the organic farms, which have so far largely defied the crisis.

According to estimates by the chambers of agriculture, the vast majority of full-time farmers in Germany posted losses this year. Accordingly, the 2020/21 financial year brought in a large number of full-time businesses “a sensitive profit loss combined with a loss of equity”. Only organic farms worked largely profitably, as the Association of Chambers of Agriculture announced.

Several factors contributed to this, including the consequences of the pandemic as well as African swine fever and below-average harvests of important crops. Potato farmers and pig farmers are particularly hard hit. According to the chambers, potato prices were up to 30 percent lower. 60 percent of German industrial and table potatoes grow in Lower Saxony, where prices fell by a quarter. The corona restrictions and the two lockdowns in spring 2020 and in winter caused demand to collapse.

The decline in pork prices hit both farmers in Lower Saxony and North Rhine-Westphalia hard. In both federal states – dubbed “pig strongholds” by the chambers of agriculture – prices fell by over 30 percent. Most other branches of conventional agriculture are also struggling with falling profits, according to the report. An exception are the winemakers, who achieved an average of almost a quarter higher results. The organic farmers, on the other hand, performed better than their conventional colleagues in all sectors and, according to the chambers, achieved an average of almost a fifth higher profits.

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