At the start of the German Farmers’ Day in Münster, Farmers’ President Joachim Rukwied called on politicians to improve the framework conditions for animal husbandry in Germany. “I want to fight here together with you for Germany as a location for animal husbandry and the framework must now be set here,” said Rukwied on Wednesday to the almost 500 delegates and 300 guests.
Agriculture Minister Cem Özdemir (Greens) have taken the first steps in the right direction. “The door is open. We can go through it,” said the farmer president. He repeated the farmers’ association’s call for the rapid expansion of the state animal husbandry logo, which should initially start with pork in the supermarket.
Rukwied demanded that other areas such as beef must be included quickly, as should system catering and canteens. “Things have to be reworked now,” said the farmer’s president in front of the delegates. Politicians in Berlin must ensure that animal husbandry has a future in Germany. “It also helps the animals. Take a look at Spanish stables. Many imports come to us from stables where animal welfare is a foreign concept.”
States have concerns
On the other hand, reservations about the planned state animal husbandry logo for meat in the supermarket are becoming clear among the federal states. The Agriculture Committee of the Bundesrat recommends calling the joint mediation committee with the Bundestag for the session of the state chamber on July 7 – with the aim of repealing the legislative decision of the parliament. The law falls “much too short and does not provide a holistic concept for the conversion of livestock farming”. “Premature, incomplete regulations of partial steps create uncertainties and endanger the conversion of livestock farming in Germany in its entirety,” says the justification. Whether the plenary session of the Federal Council will agree to the committee’s recommendation remains to be seen.
In mid-June, the Bundestag passed a law by Özdemir that stipulates mandatory labeling for domestic products from 2024. The logo should initially start with pork in the trade. A system is planned with five husbandry categories during fattening from the legal minimum standard to organic. The traffic light coalition has already made it clear that extensions to sausage and gastronomy should be tackled, as well as sows and piglets. The large supermarket chains have been voluntarily labeling their husbandry for a long time.
On the second day of the German Farmers’ Day, Özdemir will address the demands of farmers in the Münsterland hall. North Rhine-Westphalia’s Prime Minister Hendrik Wüst (CDU) will also speak. Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) sends a video message.
