Year-over-year changes in agricultural producer prices showed that in February 2026, prices were 10.9 percent lower compared to February 2025. The rates of change for the preceding months were -10.1 percent in January and -8.3 percent in December 2025. According to the Federal Statistical Office (Destatis), producer prices for agricultural products increased by 0.6 percent in February compared to January.
For plant-based products, prices dropped by 11.6 percent in February 2026 compared to the same month last year. Prices for animal and animal-derived products decreased by 10.3 percent compared to the preceding year. When comparing February to January, prices for plant-based items and for animals/animal products moved in opposite directions. Specifically, plant-based product prices rose by 4.0 percent, while prices for animals and animal products fell by 1.3 percent.
The significant 11.6 percent year-over-year drop for plant products is partly attributed to the lower prices for culinary potatoes, which fell by 54.2 percent in February 2026 compared to February 2025. In January 2026, the year-over-year change was -49.8 percent, and in December 2025, it was -48.0 percent. However, compared to the previous month of January 2026, culinary potato prices saw a slight increase of 0.2 percent.
Producer prices for fruit were 26.0 percent lower in February 2026 than a year earlier, with notable price decreases for table apples, which dropped by 27.3 percent. Conversely, vegetable prices increased by 5.5 percent over the past year, with mushrooms seeing a rise of 3.9 percent and lettuce up by 2.8 percent.
In February 2026, grain was 17.9 percent cheaper than in February 2025. Overall prices for commercial crops were 2.7 percent lower than a year ago. Rapeseed also experienced a decrease of 4.9 percent year-over-year. Feed crop prices continued their downward trend, falling by 12.7 percent compared to the previous year. Wine, however, saw another price increase in February 2026, rising by 1.4 percent compared to February 2025 (the rise was also noted for January 2026, at 1.4 percent year-over-year).
The 10.3 percent year-over-year dip in prices for animals and animal products is largely due to lower milk prices. Milk prices were 26.2 percent lower in February 2026 than the previous year, and they also fell by 3.6 percent compared to the preceding month of January 2026. In contrast, egg prices increased by 15.9 percent over the year.
For live animals, prices in February 2026 were 0.8 percent higher than in February 2025, mainly driven by a 17.1 percent price increase in cattle. However, prices for pigs dropped by 12.9 percent. Poultry prices were 5.6 percent higher in February 2026 compared to February 2025, with the main contributor being the 11.4 percent price jump in miscellaneous poultry (ducks and geese). Chicken prices rose by 1.9 percent.