The Belgian Fairebel celebrates its 15-year anniversary this year. What began as an ambitious project is now a well-established success – thanks to the strong commitment of the participating farmers. “Farmers have created something special that is pioneering beyond the agricultural sector and above all, offers great benefits for everyone.”

The European Milk Board asbl (EMB) welcomes the new project between the German Fair Milk, Die faire Milch, and PENNY that has been officially presented today. In a new type of tripartite agreement, PENNY as the retailer, Die faire Milch as the supplier and producer cooperative Fair Food have formalised their joint effort to bring transparency and fairness to calculations and price setting in the value chain.

The President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, has announced her list of candidates for the new EU Commission. She would like to see Christophe Hansen as the new Commissioner for Agriculture, who would be substantially responsible for implementing the recommendations of the Strategic Dialogue on the Future of EU Agriculture. The most recent document of the Strategic Dialogue addresses key points, but important aspects for a successful sectoral transformation are still missing. The new EU Commissioner should absolutely take this into account when implementing the recommendations of the dialogue.

As a result of the farmers’ protests, EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen felt obliged to make the following statement at the European Parliament Plenary when presenting her political priorities as a candidate for a second term of office: “No one should be forced to sell good food below production costs.” We shall keep a critical eye on how serious she will be about putting this into effect. But on the EU level, a more progressive mood is already obvious in terms of market policy, while Germany still has a long way to go to reach the point where prices cover costs.

The German Agricultural Organisations and Supply Chains Act has now been revised as part of the agricultural package that the coalition parties have been wrestling with since the farmers’ protests. There have been some actual improvements. Experience shows that food retailers often shift the risk for unsold goods to the next link in the supply chain by circuitous means. The Agricultural Supply Chains Act has now tightened up the rules regarding these so-called “unfair trading practices”. The AbL (German association of family farms) welcomes this. However, only a small number of farmers, such as fruit and vegetable producers, supply their goods directly to retailers. “Most farmers cannot expect any improvements. Nor will there be any improvements for farmers in other EU Member States and in the global South”, says dairy farmer Elmar Hannen, who attended the consultations as the AbL expert. According to the German Retail Association, less than 10 percent of agricultural products are supplied directly to the food retailers.

The AbL statement draws attention to the fact that farms are facing higher costs due to the necessary challenges involved in climate protection, animal welfare and biodiversity. Prices that cover costs, and the remuneration of additional work involved in fulfilling social and farming requirements and challenges, are crucial for making the agricultural sector fit for the future. And climate protection is essential for farmers here in Germany and all over the world. The AbL supports raising the turnover threshold for big corporations, with the effect of basically strengthening suppliers in the value chain. But it is far less vociferous in its praise for this measure than the German Farmers’ Union, which talks in this context about the reinforcement of producer groups. At least the experienced listener at the consultations probably will have realised that this includes major cooperatives such as the DMK (Deutsches Milchkontor) Group.

The agricultural package has now been adopted, with the introduction of a new eco scheme for the pasture grazing of dairy cows, which the AbL has been advocating for a long time. But this must be urgently followed by the creation of certain market framework conditions, such as mandatory contracts before delivery, in other words, implementing Article 148 of the Common Market Organisation, as well as a ban on purchasing below production costs. There is also a need for independent calculations of production costs that also take account of the margins. At the moment, production costs are soaring due to the bluetongue disease, which is particularly virulent on the Dutch border but is spreading meanwhile throughout the whole of Germany.

Dairy farmers have no market power to pass on these costs to the dairies. While the price for a kilo of butter on the Kempten market has surpassed 7 euros, which is twice the usual amount, the prices paid to producers are still too low. There are plenty of reasons why the progressive European debate about cost-covering prices must spill over to Germany, too.

Berit Thomsen, policy officer for livestock farming and milk market policy, Arbeitsgemeinschaft bäuerliche Landwirtschaft (AbL)

In August and September 2024, MIG conducted two surveys among its members to evaluate the impact of the bluetongue disease on dairy farms in Wallonia. These surveys show that things are clearly getting worse, with a rapid spread of the disease, loss of livestock and a drop in milk production.

For a change, this time we are including a funny short story by Matthias Stührwoldt, who is well-known for his witty, lively tales of life down on the farm. This article, originally published in the “Bauernstimme” mouthpiece of the AbL, tells of a very special protest in Hamburg – with a cow named Dickybird!