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Farming in Germany

• Land Use in Germany
• Job Distribution
• Labour force and labour output in agriculture
• Farm parameters
• Plant Production
• Animal husbandry
• Organic Farming

Land Use in Germany

The last land survey on actual land use in 2004 showed that more than half of Germany’s territory is used for farming; forests make up almost a third of the territory. The figures in detail:

• 0.9 percent land used for recreational purposes;
• 2.3 percent water areas;
• 2.4 percent land used for other purposes;
• 4.9 percent traffic area;
• 6.7 percent buildings and undeveloped land;
• 29.8 percent forest area; and
• 53.0 percent farmland.

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Job Distribution

Farmers and their work have been a distinctive feature of our landscapes for many generations. They are an integral part of life in rural areas. There is hardly any other economic sector in which tradition and progress are so closely linked.

Almost every tenth gainfully employed person in Germany has work linked directly or indirectly with the agricultural, forest and fisheries sectors; approximately a fifth of them are employed in primary production.

Persons gainfully employed in farming and upstream and downstream sectors (in 1,000 persons)

Economic sector 1)	Year 2000	Year 2003	Year 2005 2)
Source: BMELV 1) If there were no data on gainfully employed persons available with a break-down into economic sectors, employee data (always lower in these cases) were used. 2) Raw data estimated in some cases.
Upstream economic sectors	149.5	152.9	150.7
Agriculture	892	897	812
Downstream economic sectors	2.938.0	3046.9	2992.0
Total	3,979.5	4,036.8	3,954.7

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Labour force and labour output in agriculture

Technical progress and other economic developments in agriculture on the one hand lead to an increase in the size of the enterprises, and on the other mean that fewer paid workers are required.

Family workers including farm operators (in 1,000 persons)

Year	in full-time employment	in part-time employment	total
Source: Federal Statistical Office, BMELV (Division 425)
1999	231.5	709.3	940.8
2003	209.5	613.4	822.7
2005	203.3	579.4	782.7
2007	187.0	542.4	729.4

The increase in the size of the enterprises is accompanied by an increase in the number of employees, in particular part-time seasonal workers.

Development of non-family farm workers (in 1,000 persons)

Year	temporary workers	permanent workers	permanent workers full-time	permanent workers part-time
Source: Federal Statistical Office, BMELV (Division 425)
1999	300.3	195.9	151.0	44.9
2003	289.2	191.4	130.6	60.7
2005	306.3	187.4	125.1	62.2
2007	335,5	186.8	118.5	68.3

One labour unit (LU) is the labour output of one person who is mentally and physically fully able and who is in fully employed with operational work for the entire year. It is a standard which enables the labour output in the enterprises to be compared without having to look in detail at the various workers and employment periods.

Development of the labour force and labour output

Year	Labour force (in 1000 persons)	Farm labour output (labour units)
Source: Federal Statistical Office, BMELV (Division 425)
1999	1437.0	612.3
2003	1303.3	588.3
2005	1276.4	559.1
2007	1251.7	529.6

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Farm parameters

The average amount of land farmed in agricultural enterprises of 2 ha or larger amounted to 46.6 ha in 2005 (and to 42.9 ha overall). With an average utilised agricultural area (UAA) of approximately 34 ha, agricultural enterprises in the old Laender are considerably smaller than those in the new Laender (UAA of 202 ha). A regional analysis reveals that there is a North-South divide in farm sizes both in eastern and in western Germany.

Ninety-four percent of farms are run as individual enterprises. In 2005 they farmed approximately 69 percent of the total UAA. In farms such as these, the farm operator and family members usually contribute a large part of the labour output. A good eighth of the land (13.5 percent) was farmed by the 18,800 partnerships (4.7 percent of the enterprises). They have gained in importance in recent years. There are approximately 5,300 legal persons under private and public law (1.4 percent of the enterprises). They managed almost a fifth (17.6 percent) of Germany’s total UAA. In eastern Germany, they make up over half (51.9 percent) of the UAA. Only 45% of the individual enterprises were run on a full-time basis in 2005; 55 percent were run on a part-time basis. An enterprise run on a full-time basis farms on average 54.6 ha UAA.

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Plant Production

Almost 70 percent of the UAA is used as arable land. Cereals (including grain maize and corn-cob mix) is the most important crop, grown on more than 55 percent of the land.

The figures in detail:

Utilised agricultural area, broken down into crops (source: Federal Statistical Office, BMELV, Division 425):

• 0.1 percent tree nursery
• 0.4 percent fruit plantations;
• 0.6 percent vineyards
• 28.8 percent permanent pasture;
• 70.1 percent arable land

Arable land, broken down into main crops (source: Federal Statistical Office, BMELV, Division 425):

• 1.1 percent vegetables and market-garden crops;
• 0.9 percent pulses;
• 5.8 percent root crops;
• 5.5 percent fallow land;
• 13.8 percent industrial crops (oilseeds, hops, tobacco, herbs, spice plants);
• 17.6 percent forage crops;
• 55.3 percent cereals including grain maize and corn-cob mix.

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Animal husbandry

Germany is the largest pigmeat producer in the EU, accounting for almost 20 percent of pigmeat, and the second largest producer of beef and veal, accounting for 16 percent. Similarly to plant production, the size structure of the livestock populations in Germany differs greatly from region to region. Dairy cattle farming is the most important pillar of German agriculture, making up over 20 percent of the output value.

The livestock density (livestock units per 100 ha UAA) is 79.0.

Animal husbandry in agricultural enterprises in 2005

Animal group	Enterprises (in 1,000s)	Animals (in 1,000s)
Source: Federal Statistical Office, BMELV (Division 425)
Cattle (total)	183.4	13,035
Dairy cows	110.4	4,236
Pigs (total)	88.7	26,858
Breeding sows	33.7	2,542
Fattening pigs	66.7	2,542
Sheep	30.3	2,642
Poultry	83.4	120,560

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Organic Farming

In recent years, more and more agricultural enterprises have decided to convert their enterprise to organic farming. The paper on "Organic Farming in Germany in 2008" provides a detailed description of the situation.