The business of farming

Farm incomes in Germany swing widely with world-market prices, weather and input costs. The 2026 drought harvest, with grain down 7.3 % on the previous year, showed how quickly a good year can turn. The ministry announced around €1 billion in liquidity aid after the harvest report.

The government’s approach combines cost relief (diesel), less bureaucracy, export promotion and crisis support. Critics from environmental and smaller-farm organisations argue that the structural problem lies elsewhere: the market power of processors and retailers, and support systems that reward land area rather than public goods.

Every year thousands of farms close, often when no family member takes over. The decision to continue depends on whether investment in new barns, machinery or technology can be paid back. That in turn depends on whether the rules will still apply when the loan is repaid.

This is why “planning certainty” (Planungssicherheit) appears so often in the ministry’s statements. The postponement of the state livestock-housing label to 2027 and the end of the federal programme for rebuilding livestock housing are read in two ways. Supporters see a pause to make the rules workable. Critics see a loss of the very reliability young farmers need to invest in higher animal-welfare standards.

The European Commission’s proposal of July 2025 for the next EU budget would fundamentally restructure farm support. Rainer has said he is not categorically opposed to capping direct payments for large farms, but he rejected a cap of €100,000 at the 2026 German Farmers’ Day, arguing that such a limit would not fit Germany’s farm structures. See European Agriculture.