What do the parties in North Rhine-Westphalia say on agriculture?

The AfD wants to sharply reduce the administrative burden on farmers and cut documentation requirements. Obstacles to direct sales should also be removed and farm shops supported so regional food is easier to buy.

Farmers have to fill out many forms. The AfD wants to cut this down a lot. Farmers should be able to sell their goods directly more easily. Farm shops should get support.

The AfD wants to end blanket reductions in fertilizer use and instead determine precisely who is responsible for nitrate inputs. It wants to expand the use of pesticides to an appropriate extent.

In some areas, farmers may only use less fertilizer. The AfD wants to end this general rule. Officials should check exactly who pollutes the water. Farmers should also be allowed to use more products against pests.

The CDU wants farming in North Rhine-Westphalia to remain worthwhile and relies on fair competition within the EU. The rules of the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) are to be implemented without national add-ons. Farmers are also to get relief on taxes and paperwork.

Farmers should earn enough money. The CDU wants to apply the EU farm rules exactly as they are. There should be no stricter rules just for Germany. Farmers should pay less tax when they buy land. They should also have fewer forms and records to fill in.

The CDU wants farmers to be able to earn money from services for nature and the climate. Additional environmental services are to be compensated financially, and restrictions on farming should never come without compensation. The party relies on voluntary action and incentives rather than mandates.

Farmers do things for nature and the climate. They should get money for that. The CDU wants no new rules without compensation. It relies on voluntary offers and rewards. The federal government should pay money it has promised.

The CDU wants to use digital technology and new technologies in agriculture. New breeding methods are meant to make plants more resilient and, in the party's view, serve the environment, the climate, food security and biodiversity.

The CDU wants farmers to use modern technology. This includes new methods of plant breeding. They should make plants more robust. That should help the environment and the climate. Rural areas should get fast internet everywhere.

The CDU wants to speed up the shift toward better animal welfare in livestock farming while taking the effects on farms into account. Producers are to be reimbursed for the higher costs through state support and compensation payments, with a moderate share passed on to consumers.

Farm animals should have better lives. That costs farmers more money. The state should help farmers with this. Prices in stores should also rise a little. Meat labels should show where it comes from and how the animal lived.

The FDP wants to give farms more economic independence and long-term planning certainty. Investments are to be written off more quickly. Research into and use of digital technology in farming are to get better conditions.

Farmers plan for many years. The FDP wants to give them reliable rules. Farmers should be able to deduct spending on new things from taxes faster. Farms should use more digital technology. Farm research should grow too.

The FDP wants to include agriculture in trading with CO2 certificates. Research on cutting emissions is to be brought to market. In addition, growing soy in Germany is to be researched more intensively.

The FDP wants farming to take part in CO2 trading. New ideas from research should be put into practice. One example is different feed for cattle. Growing soy in Germany should be studied too.

The FDP wants to protect livestock grazers and demands that the states be allowed to manage wolf populations differently by region. Wolves that repeatedly kill grazing animals should be removable quickly and with legal certainty. It considers the current strict protection, which does not single out such animals, to be wrong.

Wolves kill more and more sheep and other grazing animals. The FDP wants to help the animals' owners. The states should decide for themselves how to deal with wolves. Wolves that kill many animals may be killed.

The FDP wants a uniform animal welfare label across the EU and Europe-wide origin labeling for meat and milk. It rejects additional national requirements for farmers. Farms are to be supported in improving animal welfare, for example through faster permits for open barns.

The FDP wants one animal welfare label for all of Europe. Meat and milk should show where they come from. German farmers should not get extra rules. Farmers who want to build open barns should get permits faster.

The Greens want to expand organic farming in North Rhine-Westphalia from just under 7 to 30 percent by 2030 and reduce livestock numbers in the medium term. Their model is ecological, small-scale farming without genetic engineering or synthetic chemical pesticides.

The Greens want more organic farming. By 2030, 30 percent of farmland should be organic. Today it is just under 7 percent. There should be fewer farm animals. Farmers should get help to switch.

The Greens want to halve pesticide use in North Rhine-Westphalia in the short term and eventually end farming's reliance on synthetic chemical products. The platform cites harm to biodiversity and human health.

The Greens want fewer pesticides on fields. The amount should quickly drop by half. Those who use pesticides should pay a levy. Farmers would get money and advice to switch.

The Greens want to steer public farm money toward farms that protect nature and animals, and to give targeted support to small farms. According to the platform, most subsidies currently go to the largest operations.

The Greens want to share out farm money differently. Farms that protect nature and animals should get more. Small farms should get special help. They should not have to give up.

The Greens want to set up centers for artisanal food processing in every county and large city and help cafeterias switch to organic and regional products. Reliable buyers are meant to give farmers planning certainty.

The Greens want more food from the region. Every area should get a center for small-scale food processing. Cafeterias should offer more organic food. They would get funding for this.

The Greens want to require retailers and producers to pass on food that is still edible and to decriminalize so-called dumpster diving. The platform points to 12 million tons of edible food thrown away in Germany each year.

A lot of good food is thrown away in Germany. The Greens want to change that. Stores and producers should have to give away edible food. People who take food from store trash bins should not be punished.

The Greens want to create a nonprofit land agency in North Rhine-Westphalia that holds land and allocates it according to public-interest criteria. This is meant to steer the use of undeveloped land for conservation, farming and forestry.

The Greens want to found a land agency. It should buy land and pass it on. The land should serve nature, farmers and forests. An independent body should oversee this.

The SPD wants to counter concentration in agriculture with regional processing and distribution structures. This is meant to improve farms' position against large buyers. It also calls for a ban on dumping prices and a land reform.

The SPD wants to support farms in the region. Food should more often be processed and sold nearby. This should get farmers better prices. The SPD wants to ban very low prices. The market for farmland should also get new rules.

The SPD wants to make the sustainability standards of the German Nutrition Society (DGE) mandatory for public cafeterias and canteens in the longer term. The platform treats healthy eating as a social issue because healthy food is expensive.

The SPD wants healthier food in public cafeterias. Fixed rules should apply there. Cafeterias should buy more local and organic food. Everyone should be able to eat healthily, even with little money.

The SPD wants to reward farmers for services the market has not paid for so far, such as species protection or gentle soil cultivation. Sustainability rating systems are meant to make the social costs of food production visible in prices.

Farmers do a lot for nature and the environment. Often they get no money for it. The SPD wants to change that. Farmers should get a premium for this work. Cheap meat from factory farming should no longer have a price advantage.

The SPD wants to push at the federal level for a mandatory state animal welfare label covering all species. Livestock farmers are to get help converting their housing systems so they can earn an adequate income with fewer animals.

The SPD wants an animal welfare label for all kinds of animals. The label should be required. It shows how the animals were kept. Farmers should get help when they rebuild their barns. They should earn enough even with fewer animals.