German farmers call for government action on fuel, fertilizer costs

Chancellor Friedrich Merz's government needs to take urgent action to ease the load on farmers facing soaring fuel and fertilizer costs, Joachim Rukwied, head of the German Farmers' Association, told dpa on Sunday.

"These huge costs are strangling our farms. If no rapid decision is taken, harvest quantities could decline, and food prices could rise significantly from the summer," Rukwied predicted.

Merz's coalition partners met on Saturday and are meeting again on Sunday to discuss the effects of the Iran war on energy prices, along with planned reforms.

A public three-way conflict over what measures to take has erupted between the chancellor, Reiche, who is from Merz's conservative Christian Democratic Union (CDU) party, and Finance Minister Lars Klingbeil of the SPD.

Rukwied said a carbon dioxide (CO2) levy on diesel should be temporarily reduced, along with monitoring of fertilizer prices and a temporary lifting of a fertilizer CO2 compensation levy.

Fertilizers containing nitrogen have skyrocketed on global markets by up to 40%, with prices to German farmers up 30% on the year, he said. He added that the fertilizers were essential, or yield and quality would fall.

German consumer and environmental association Foodwatch said the Iran war should not serve as a pretext to push through the food sector's agenda. Rather than calling for subsidies, the sector had to make itself less dependent on fossil resources, Foodwatch head Chris Methmann said.

Methmann added that organic farmers were currently at an advantage, as they did not need the energy-intensive artificial fertilizers that are normally shipped through the Strait of Hormuz.

He called for taxes on fruits, vegetables and legumes to be eliminated to help consumers.