Farmers are systemically important. They produce something that everyone needs every day: namely food. For that, however, they get paid pretty badly. Seven days a week in the field and in the barn – not infrequently 10 hours or more a day – for the past 10 years an average of almost 32,000 euros a year. In 2020, the farmers will generate their second-best income to date, but that too was only 37,200 euros.
This puts farmers in the penultimate place of all occupational groups in terms of income. Only in the catering sector do employees get even less: namely just under 26,000 euros. However, there is a tip on top of that – tax-free, then it’s often twice as much, I was told. But back to the beginning: What are politicians actually producing? Politics, of course! But is that also relevant to the system and do you need it every day? And how long do you actually have to work for it?
If you take the agricultural policy and the specific resolutions and laws of the last few years, the question of systemic relevance arises quite emphatically. The last laws and regulations were at least not made for farmers. And they do not necessarily always testify to expertise in agricultural issues but rather reflect the political zeitgeist: fertilizer regulations, animal welfare requirements, set-aside requirements, insect protection and much more have made life difficult for farmers. And on the horizon, the new, even stricter requirements and requirements of the Green Deal and taxonomy (lending) can already be seen.
There is a lot of moaning about the dying of the small farms – but exactly the opposite is being done. You can see that clearly if you take the trouble and look at the agricultural statistics. It starts with the stigmatization of tethering and does not end with the additional investments for the necessary manure storage facilities and animal welfare stalls. In any case, agricultural policy is fueling structural change and farm death, whether it admits it or not.
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