Grüne on agriculture

The Greens want to ensure that GMO-free farming and food production remain possible. To that end, plants, animals, seeds and genes should not be patentable, and genetically modified products should be tested and labeled.

Many people want food without genetic engineering. The Greens want this to stay possible. No one should get a patent on plants, animals or genes. Food made with genetic engineering should carry a label.

The party calls for risk assessments under the precautionary principle, traceability and mandatory labeling of modified seeds and food. The same rules would apply to new genetic engineering methods in farming. Their opportunities, risks and consequences would continue to be researched. On consumer protection, the party also wants to stop hidden price increases through deceptive packaging.

The Greens want the EU's Common Agricultural Policy funds to be awarded from 2027 on the principle that public money pays for services to the public. The subsidies are to become the financial basis for protecting natural resources.

Farmers get a lot of money from the EU. The Greens want to change these rules from 2027. The money should pay for things that help everyone. One example is protecting nature and the environment.

The platform points to the large financial support agriculture receives, mainly through the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP). In the reform from 2027, this funding is to carry the protection of natural resources. The Greens also want to give more support to women, young farmers, and newcomers. The stated goal is resilient farms that secure the food supply in the long run.

The Greens want to strengthen farmers' position against processors and retailers. Across the whole food chain, buyers would have to pay prices that cover costs, and supply contracts would have to be written and binding.

Farmers should get enough money for their goods. The Greens want a new rule for this. Buyers must pay prices that cover the farmers' costs. Contracts must be in writing.

The duty to use written contracts is to be anchored in the Agrarorganisationen- und Lieferkettengesetz (the law on agricultural organizations and supply chains). In addition, the food retail sector, which is dominated by a few companies, is to undergo an antitrust review to secure fair producer prices and competition. For workers in agriculture and the meat industry, especially seasonal workers, the platform calls for better labor, health, and social insurance protection. Farm data collected by agribusiness is to remain under the farms' control.

The Greens want to reshape livestock farming so that fewer animals are kept under better conditions. They justify this with falling meat consumption and want to keep funding barn conversions and extend husbandry labeling.

People are eating less meat. So the Greens want fewer animals in barns. These animals should have more space. The state should keep paying for rebuilding barns. More meat should carry a label showing how the animal lived.

The platform considers industrial livestock farming and cheap exports unsustainable in the long run. Enough money for converting barns to more animal-friendly housing is to be available in the next term as well, for all species. The husbandry label, which so far applies only to pork, is to be extended to other species and to restaurants and canteens. Grazing on species-rich grassland and hardy breeds are also to be supported. Regional value chains are to be strengthened, and the Greens want to counter purchases of farmland through share deals.

The Greens want to give farms additional income, for example through solar installations on farmland, tourism, and plant-based building materials. Farms are also to get help entering markets for alternative and plant-based proteins.

Farmers should be able to earn money in new ways. One example is solar panels on fields. Another is vacations on the farm. Plants used as building material should help too. The Greens also want to support new foods made from plants.

Growing, processing, and trading industrial hemp is to be reliably free from criminal penalties. The competence center „Proteine der Zukunft“ (Proteins of the Future) and the Chancenprogramm Höfe (a farm opportunity program) are to continue. Research funding is to grow, and novel foods from fermentation or cell cultivation are to get efficient and dependable approval procedures. Rewetting peatlands is also meant to pay off for farms, with simpler and faster permits for switching to wet cultivation.

The Greens want to reduce the use of pesticides and fertilizers. They plan a nutrient balance, implementation of the EU's Farm to Fork Strategy, and a levy on pesticides whose revenue can fund environmentally friendly crop protection.

Farmers should use less pest poison and less fertilizer. The Greens want a levy on pesticides. Pesticides are products against pests and weeds. The money should help gentler methods. Bees should also be better protected.

According to the platform, the EU's Farm to Fork Strategy can halve pesticide use across the EU by 2030. Farms' environmental and biodiversity services are to be paid in a way that adds to their income. The plan includes refuges for nature such as fallow land, wetlands, and hedges, as well as more agroforestry combining trees and crops. Hardy varieties that need fewer pesticides and less mineral fertilizer are to be supported. A new soil protection law is meant to prevent soil damage.

The Greens name organic farming and food production as their guiding model and stick to the goal of 30 percent organic farming by 2030. To get there, they want to implement the Biostrategie 2030 (organic strategy) and provide the necessary money.

The Greens want more organic farming. By 2030, almost a third of farming should be organic. The state should give enough money for this. Young farmers should find it easier to start.

According to the platform, nature-friendly production should have an advantage over methods with heavy environmental impacts. Young farmers are to find it easier to get started, and innovation and marketing by organic farms are to be supported. Research on organic farming is to grow significantly. Planning law is also to include priority areas for food production, and alternative drives and fuels are to replace fossil fuels in agriculture.