AfD on agriculture

The AfD wants to stop requirements under the fertilizer ordinance and mandatory buffer strips along waterways, which it calls a creeping expropriation of farmers. EU direct payments should stay, and farms should be compensated for government-ordered climate and environmental measures. Regional products should be easier to market.

The AfD wants to help family farms. It wants to stop some environmental rules for farmers. One example is rules on fertilizer. Farmers should keep getting money from the EU. They should get paid back for costs from environmental rules.

According to the platform, farms in Saarland are falling behind because of globalization and climate and environmental requirements; many find no successor or become part-time operations. The AfD rejects forced less-intensive farming through the fertilizer ordinance and mandatory waterway buffer strips. It wants to keep the direct payments under the first pillar of the EU's Common Agricultural Policy. For politically ordered climate and environmental measures, it demands compensation for lost income and extra effort. Regional labeling and certification should be simplified, and a nationwide online portal for regional suppliers should be set up. The Agentur Ländlicher Raum (rural areas agency) should be kept and expanded.

The AfD wants to make slaughtering within the region easier and support small slaughterhouses. This is meant to further reduce animal transports and improve compliance with animal welfare rules.

The AfD wants animals to be slaughtered close to the farm. For that, the region should have small slaughterhouses. Then animals do not have to travel far. This should help animal welfare.

The platform sees regional slaughtering as a precondition for further limiting animal transports and for better enforcing animal welfare rules. For Saarland, the AfD calls for uniform regulations on meat inspection and for small local slaughterhouses. In its view, nature conservation and animal welfare can only succeed together with farmers.

The AfD wants the state government to raise the share of organic farming in Saarland to at least half. Large agricultural operations that, according to the platform, depend on synthetic fertilizer and pesticides should be pushed back in favor of organic farming.

The AfD wants more organic farming in Saarland. At least half of farming should be organic. The state government should make this happen. Big factory farms should become fewer.

The platform criticizes the EU for having excessively supported large agricultural operations for years that are only competitive thanks to synthetic fertilizer, pesticides and glyphosate. These should give way to organic farming. The AfD expects higher long-term returns for Saarland's agriculture because organic food is becoming a mass product. When new nature reserves are designated, the interests of farms should be taken into account.