Thousands of farmers want to protest against austerity plans

Agriculture - Thousands of farmers want to protest against austerity plans

Several thousand farmers in Rhineland-Palatinate are expected to take part in the week of protests against the federal government 's plans to cut agricultural diesel and vehicle tax. Meanwhile, the coalition government announced on Thursday that it would partially withdraw the planned cuts to subsidies for farmers. However, the farmers are sticking to their protest plans.

According to the new plans, there will be no abolition of the motor vehicle tax exemption for agriculture, as the federal government announced. The abolition of tax concessions for agricultural diesel will also not be carried out in one step, it was said in Berlin. The Rhineland-Palatinate Agriculture Minister Daniela Schmitt (FDP) had - like the CDU opposition - seen a need for improvements to the plans of the federal government. However, Schmitt did not comment on the federal government's decision for the time being. This would first have to be examined in detail, she said.

"Both must be canceled without replacement," explained Eberhard Hartelt, President of the Rhineland-Palatinate South Farmers' and Winegrowers' Association (BWV), in Mainz, explaining why protests should be held as planned. The federal government's new decision would also hit farmers hard, only with a time delay. "The resentment in agriculture and the mobilization are huge." The cut in subsidies was the straw that broke the camel's back. For Michael Horper, President of the Rhineland-Nassau Farmers' and Winegrowers' Association, the new plans of the traffic light are a lazy compromise and the planned protests will remain, he said.

Next Monday, demonstrations and rallies are planned in all 14 districts of this association at midday and in the afternoon, announced the association's spokesman, Herbert Netter, in Koblenz. He expected up to 5000 participants. At least 1000 farmers with tractors alone were expected to attend the final rally on Monday evening in Koblenz. The farmers' and winegrowers' association rejects highway blockades with tractors. "We want to take people with us and not annoy them," said Netter. The aim is to make a political impact.

According to the Landwirtschaft verbindet (LSV) association, they want to block highway entrances in the north of the country together with the hauliers. They then want to drive in a zipper system from Montabaur via the A3 to Neustadt/Wied, to the Dernbacher Dreieck and from there via the A48 to Koblenz and then via the A61 to Mainz. There will be a nationwide regulation for the duration of the blockade, said LSV board member Andreas Jung. The organizers are expecting around 3000 vehicles.

The federal government's plans will only be off the table once the Bundestag has made its decision, explained Jung, explaining why the farmers are nevertheless sticking to the protest. In recent years, they had experienced that announced decisions had been changed in the process leading up to the Bundestag vote. In addition, some of the farmers are also affected by the increase in the truck toll, which is why freight forwarders are also protesting.

Unlike in the north of Rhineland-Palatinate, the BWV is planning protest actions in the south together with the LSV. On Monday morning, farmers want to gather with their tractors at several highway exits. A rally is planned for later in the morning in Ludwigshafen. According to the organizers, there will also be a rally from the Vorderpfalz region. BWV spokesman Andreas Köhr expects several thousand people to take part in the protests.

However, most of the actions have not yet been finally approved. "We are only doing planned actions", said Köhr in Mainz. BWV and LSV are in the same boat and have the same goals, which is why they are calling for the protests together. "We want to attract attention and not paralyze the country."

A central rally with farmers from all parts of the country is scheduled for Wednesday in Mainz. The farmers also want to win over representatives of the state traffic light. "Even though we know, of course, that it is the Bundestag and not the state government that decides," said Köhr. Talks with members of the Bundestag are also part of the protest week in the north of the country.

On Saturday evening (13th), more than a hundred warning fires are planned in the north of Rhineland-Palatinate in the area covered by the association, said Netter. Some farmers will also be present at the end of the protest week in Berlin on January 15, said Köhr.

Agriculture Minister Schmitt had shared the farmers' criticism prior to the new decision by the federal traffic light: "The proposed cuts would hit agricultural businesses with full force and mean a blatant competitive disadvantage," said the FDP politician. The importance of agriculture goes far beyond the economic significance of the individual farm. "It is the farmers who make our rural regions worth living in, who are also committed to society as a whole - in the rural youth, with the rural women and often also as supporting pillars of the voluntary fire departments and local social and cultural life."

The agricultural spokesperson for the CDU parliamentary group and farmer, Johannes Zehfuß, said: "The SPD, FDP and Greens are cutting back on our local farmers with the announced abolition of tax breaks for agricultural diesel and vehicle tax for tractors." Moreover, more than 90 percent of agricultural vehicle traffic takes place off public roads. "Our farmers' operating costs are already much higher than those of their colleagues in other countries. Many farmers are threatened in their existence."

"Agriculture has had to swallow a lot of toads in recent years. The completely misguided agricultural policy of the CDU/CSU has made itself felt in the operating results," said the farmer and Parliamentary Secretary of the FDP parliamentary group, Marco Weber. "It is therefore completely hypocritical for the CDU/CSU, of all parties, to act as the patron saint of the sector." Weber also believes that further burdens on agriculture must be avoided. "Germany is dependent on an efficient agricultural sector." Russia's attack on Ukraine and the collapse in wheat exports have made it terribly clear just how important security of supply is.