Agriculture transforms itself
What remains after the farmers' demonstrations? For terraHORSCH, Lea Fließ, managing director of the Forum Moderne Landwirtschaft, looks back on the protests.
Source: Forum Moderne Landwirtschaft
Since the end of 2023, the ongoing farmers' demonstrations have kept the population on their toes, sometimes more and sometimes less. Initially mainly in political Berlin, but then also nationwide. Roads blocked by tractors, banners about agricultural diesel and farmers in front of the Brandenburger Tor in Berlin. A picture we last saw in 2020. However, what is different this time is that the farmers are backed up by the population and clearly feels this support. 65 % of the population even confirmed that they consider the farmers' demonstrations to be justified (representative survey, January 2024 (Yougov)). Since the end of 2023, farmers have been demonstrating against political measures that are intended to make the agricultural sector more sustainable but are based on additional costs for individual farms instead of support.
Source: Deutscher Bauernverband
Although this support was actually supposed to come: in mid-2021, within the scope of the so-called Commission for the Future, agriculture and civil society jointly agreed on how to make agriculture more sustainable. There was a clear commitment that this transformation is a task for society as a whole. Since that time, the agricultural sector has deliberately sought dialogue with the population while politicians unfortunately have hardly acted on the recommendations of the Commission for the Future.
Benefit from the momentum
People can see it: the agricultural sector is willing to change but it needs the support of political frame conditions. This year, at the ErlebnisBauernhof (EventFarm) at the Green Week in Berlin this also became clear during the political visits. There rarely has been so much political but also media interest in agriculture at the Green Week. Benefit from the momentum – this surely is the most important advice you can currently give any farmer. Others are: continue to talk to the public and to politicians and show that the sector wants to become more sustainable and climate-friendly – while maintaining the security of supply.
Source: Forum Moderne Landwirtschaft
We therefore are planning to offer an exciting mix of real stories, real faces from the agricultural sector and innovative projects in 2024 to allow the public to discover agriculture. Both digitally and on site. We want to show that agriculture in Germany is already one of the most innovative sectors. At the same time, we also consider it to be important to show a picture of what agriculture should look like for us as an industrial sector in the next 20 to 30 years, which technologies and economic methods are really forward-looking and how we want to manage to supply the population with high-quality food in the coming years and at the same time protect the natural environment.