As the cost of living crisis deepens across Europe, consumers in Germany have been warned by the Hessian Farmers’ Association that food will soon become extremely expensive in the country.
At the farmers’ day in Alsfeld, the association’s president, Karsten Schmal, explained that the cost increases in the marketing chain would have to be passed on to consumers. The reasoning for expected price hikes are predominantly the meteoric rise in energy prices, fuel, fertilizers, and logistics.
According to the latest figures from the statistics authority Eurostat, food prices in Germany rose by 8.5 percent in April compared to the same month last year, but experts have warned that this will only be the beginning of crippling inflation.
Many rural livestock keepers are giving up
Schmal also expressed concern about the consequences of any gas embargo against Russia. Were this to happen, Schmal would demand that adequate production capacity for nitrogen fertilizers be created as farmers cannot maintain agricultural production without them. He called for a “national fertilizer reserve” to be established. Without this, significantly lower harvests would have to be expected in the case of an interruption in gas supplies from next year.
Pig and cattle farmers have also suffered because of rising energy costs with many companies needing to close, a reality that the Hessian farm president warned would be fatal to ensuring a regional meat supply as he called on authorities to take the necessary measures to preserve the industry.