SSW on agriculture

The SSW wants as little fertilizer as possible to reach groundwater and surface water. To that end it calls for a modernized fertilizer ordinance and rules for cutting nutrient surpluses.

The SSW wants to protect water better. Less fertilizer should get into rivers, lakes and groundwater. There should be new rules for that. The equipment needed should be affordable for farmers.

The plan includes new testing methods and warning levels that flag pollution early. Rules are to set out how nitrogen and phosphate surpluses will be reduced. Nutrients are to be applied more efficiently to prevent oversupply in water bodies. At the same time, the necessary investments in application technology should remain affordable for farms.

The SSW wants to pay farmers for nature and environmental protection measures and to strengthen contract-based conservation. Grassland, lowlands and peatlands are to function better as carbon stores, and biodiversity is to be given more weight.

Farmers should get money when they protect nature. Meadows and peatlands should be better protected. They store CO2 and so help the climate. Insects should get more protection too.

Contract-based conservation, meaning voluntary paid agreements with farms, is to create incentives for landscape care and protect near-natural cultural landscapes. Grassland is to be strengthened because it binds CO2. The use of lowlands and peatlands is to be adapted so they store more carbon again; the platform calls for climate protection and land programs for this. Biodiversity is to get more room in agricultural training. Programs for flowering areas are to be expanded to protect insects, and rare livestock breeds and crop varieties are to receive more support.

The SSW opposes the use of glyphosate in both farming and private gardens. It also wants fewer antibiotics, hormones and drugs used in livestock farming in order to prevent resistance.

Glyphosate is a weed killer. The SSW wants nobody to use it anymore. Farm animals should get fewer antibiotics. Antibiotics are drugs against bacteria. They should keep working for people.

The SSW wants crop protection products to pose no risk to health. Mechanical and organic farming methods are to be considered more strongly in place of chemical agents. The party wants to reduce the use of antibiotics, hormones and drugs in animal production to a responsible level. The platform justifies this by saying that last-resort antibiotics must remain effective for treating humans.

The SSW calls for a reform of EU agricultural payments that puts social criteria as well as environmental, climate and animal protection at the center. The goal is small-scale, sustainable farming that farms can make a living from.

The EU gives money to farmers. The SSW wants to change these rules. The money should be tied more to protecting the environment, animals and social rules. Farmers should be able to live from their work.

In the platform's view, agriculture is under pressure from structural change and farm closures and often does not secure farmers' livelihoods. The SSW aims for resource-conserving farming that pays more attention to animal welfare, biodiversity, and water and soil protection, with animal welfare at the center. Schleswig-Holstein's dialogue process on agriculture in 2040 is to continue beyond the setting of goals. Conventional and organic farms are both to receive support, and switching to organic farming is to become easier.

The SSW wants farm products to be processed and marketed more within the region and wants to reduce the transport of food and live animals. High-quality food is to be affordable for everyone, and minimum standards are to apply in meat production.

Food should be processed and sold more in the region. Live animals should not be moved so far. Good food should be affordable for people with little money too. Meat plants should have fair pay and working conditions.

Local processing of farm products is to be promoted; according to the platform, short transport routes help the climate and create skilled jobs. Transport of live animals is to be limited nationally and internationally. Organic and regional products are to be affordable for people on low incomes as well. Consumer protection is to be strengthened through easily understood labels and quality seals. In meat production the SSW demands compliance with minimum standards for pay and working conditions and rejects temporary agency work as a business model.

The SSW wants to secure small-scale fishing in Schleswig-Holstein as a traditional trade while protecting fish stocks. Catch quotas are to be science-based and better monitored; the party rejects industrial overfishing.

The SSW wants to keep the small fishing businesses in the state. At the same time, enough fish should stay in the sea. Catch limits should be based on research. Heavy trawl nets should not be used in sensitive areas.

The platform attributes today's quotas to what it sees as decades of misguided EU fisheries policy and calls some of them a threat to livelihoods. Viable economic solutions are to be worked out with fishing businesses and cooperatives. The voluntary agreement to protect harbor porpoises and sea ducks is to continue, and the MSC label is to be developed further. The SSW wants to strengthen regional marketing, aquaculture and projects for endangered stocks such as releasing eels. The cormorant ordinance is to be reviewed, and damage caused by cormorants is to be financially compensated.