SPD on agriculture

The SPD wants all farmland to be managed more sustainably, guided by the proposals of the Zukunftskommission Landwirtschaft (Commission on the Future of Agriculture). Funding programs would be simplified, and support for switching to organic farming would continue. Soil and water would be protected by cutting nitrogen surpluses and pesticide use.

The SPD wants farming that is gentler on nature. Farmers should get funding more easily. Farms that switch to organic keep getting help. There should be less fertilizer and fewer pesticides. That protects soil and water.

Funding programs would be simplified and made less bureaucratic. The party wants to promote wider crop rotations, connected habitats and humus build-up so that soils stay fertile, bind CO2 and store water. Nitrogen surpluses and pesticide use would be reduced further. Newly sealed land would be offset by unsealing other areas, with a long-term goal of net-zero land consumption. Through advisory services and a new practice-oriented network, the SPD wants to help farms use digital technology (smart farming). Farmers should have a reliable income.

The SPD wants to strengthen the family-run farms typical of Hesse and counter the decline in the number of farms. When land is sold or leased, independent farmers would get stronger priority over investors from outside agriculture.

The SPD wants to support family farms. There are fewer and fewer farms. The SPD wants to change that. Farmers should get land more easily than outside investors. New farms should get help.

Support would also cover securing a farm's livelihood and handing it over to a successor. People who farm themselves would get stronger preference in buying and leasing land than investors without a farming background. Setting up new farms would be supported. The program cites the shrinking number of farms as the reason.

The SPD wants to preserve and support regional food businesses such as bakeries, butchers, dairies and slaughterhouses. In livestock farming, the proposals of the Kompetenznetzwerk Nutztierhaltung (expert network on livestock farming) would be implemented and compliance checked regularly. Public canteens would buy regional and seasonal food under quality standards.

The SPD wants to strengthen food from the region. Bakers, butchers and country inns should stay. Small dairies and slaughterhouses should get funding. Farm animals should be kept better. This would be checked regularly.

The program points to the pandemic, the war in Ukraine and insecure supply chains as showing the need for regional production. Decentralized dairies and slaughterhouses would be funded to keep value creation local and avoid long transports; good working conditions would apply in slaughterhouses. Land-based livestock farming would continue to be supported. Quality standards for communal catering are meant to allow better prices for producers, and vegetarian and vegan options are treated as a given. Food waste would be cut significantly, and fair trade initiatives and community-supported agriculture would be supported.