After the federal election, the Farmers’ Association expects the reversal of the cuts in agricultural diesel subsidies. “The abolition of the agricultural diesel refund is still an unacceptable additional burden for our farms” said Association President Joachim Rukwied to the “Rheinische Post” (Friday edition).
To restore the competitiveness of German agriculture in Europe, the next federal government must “adjust agricultural diesel taxation to the European average level” Rukwied added. Despite the farmers’ protests in the last year, the SPD-Green-FDP government had stuck to the step-by-step abolition of agricultural diesel subsidies until 2026, when farmers will have to pay the full tax rate.
The next federal government must also push forward with a genuine bureaucracy reduction, Rukwied said. “Our farms are suffocating under bureaucracy.” Time-consuming documentation requirements, lengthy application and approval procedures, or costly control and reporting obligations would weaken the competitiveness of farmers. “We need more entrepreneurial freedom again” the association president demanded.