What do the parties in Thuringia say on agriculture?

The AfD wants to reduce regulations and red tape for farms and rejects current agricultural policy at the EU, federal and state levels. It also calls for protection against farmland and farms being bought up.

The AfD wants fewer rules for farmers. It thinks farm policy from the EU, the federal government and the state is bad. Fields and farms should not simply be bought up. The AfD wants to protect farmers from that.

The AfD wants to increase support for grassland farming and the livestock it requires. The platform argues that grassland contributes to biodiversity and is a core part of an intact cultural landscape.

The AfD wants more support for meadows and pastures. Farm animals on this land should get more support too. The AfD says meadows and pastures help many kinds of plants and animals. They are part of the landscape in Thuringia.

The AfD wants to strengthen the regional origin of Thuringian farm products, including by bringing slaughterhouses back to the state and expanding mobile slaughtering. Barriers to selling Thuringian products should be removed; in this context the party criticizes the sanctions against Russia.

The AfD wants more food from the region. It wants more slaughterhouses in Thuringia again. Slaughtering on the farm should also happen more often. Then animals do not have to travel far. The AfD is also against the sanctions on Russia. Sanctions are trade bans against a country.

The AfD wants to allow genetic engineering in farming only if harm to people, animals and nature can be ruled out. Genetically modified food and feed should be labeled.

The AfD wants strict rules for genetic engineering in farming. Genetic engineering means changing the genes of plants. First, experts should check carefully if it causes harm. Food made with it should carry a label.

The BSW opposes new burdens on farmers, such as the federal government's cuts to the farm diesel subsidy. A master plan is meant to give livestock farms much more support so that animal production does not move to countries with weaker animal welfare standards. Barn permits should remain valid until the barn is fully depreciated.

The BSW does not want more burdens on farmers. It opposes cuts to help with farm diesel. That is fuel for tractors. Farms with animals should get more help. A permit for a barn should last a long time.

The BSW believes Thuringia's farmers have too little market power compared with processors and retail chains. It wants to support regional value chains and move agricultural marketing into a separate company for Thuringia or central Germany. The Thuringian quality label and funding for producer associations would be reinstated.

Farmers have little power against big store chains. The BSW wants to change that. Farmers should sell more of their goods locally. A separate company should advertise Thuringian products. A Thuringian quality label should come back.

The BSW wants to cut red tape in farming and forestry, based on proposals from the farmers' association and the conference of agriculture ministers. The nutrient flow balance requirement would be scrapped. At the federal level, the BSW wants to abolish Grundsteuer A (property tax on farm and forest land), arguing it costs more effort than it raises.

The BSW wants less paperwork for farmers. One record-keeping rule should go away. Farms now have to write down how many nutrients they use. A tax on farm and forest land should also go away.

The BSW wants to make the forest area payment permanent, on condition that owners replant and convert their forests. The program cites damage from drought, bark beetles and inadequate forest protection. Forest land with unknown owners is to be brought back under management by law.

Many forests in Thuringia are damaged. Drought and bark beetles caused this. Forest owners should get money for good. In return, they must plant new trees. Forests with unknown owners should also be looked after.

The CDU wants to push at the federal level for a full reversal of the cuts to the tax refund on agricultural diesel. Farms are also to be allowed to build tax-free reserves for climate-related swings in yields.

Farmers get less tax back on diesel than before. The CDU wants to fully undo this cut. Farmers should also be allowed to save money tax-free. This should help them get through years with bad harvests.

The CDU wants to continue the EU's common agricultural policy so that the incomes of farms and their workers stay secure. At the same time, red tape and rules it considers excessive are to be reduced.

The CDU wants farmers to keep getting money from the EU. This money is called direct payments. There should be fewer rules for farmers. This applies, for example, to rules on pesticides.

The Left backs production, processing and marketing within the region and short supply chains. Direct sales are to be promoted and farmers' position in dealing with retail chains strengthened.

Food should come from the region. Farmers should be able to sell their goods directly. Then they depend less on big retail chains. Schools and canteens should use food from the region.

The Left wants agri-environmental and climate measures as well as organic farming established on one third of Thuringia's farmland. The use of pesticides such as glyphosate and harmful fertilizing practices is to decline.

A third of the fields should be farmed in an eco-friendly way. That includes organic farming. The Left wants fewer pesticides such as glyphosate. The soil should stay fertile.

The Left wants EU farm subsidies linked to new criteria and sees the Gemeinwohlprämie (public-good premium) as one possible route. Farmers are to earn income from environmental services, and compensation payments for disadvantaged areas are to stay.

Farmers get money from the EU. The Left wants new rules for it. Those who do something for nature and society should get more. Farmers on difficult land should keep getting extra payments.

The Left wants to block purchases of farmland by investors from outside agriculture. An agricultural structure law, a stronger right of first refusal for farmers, capped prices and a public land fund are meant to achieve this.

Investors are buying more and more farmland. The Left wants to stop that. Farmers should get to buy first. Land prices should have a limit. The state should also own land and lease it out.

The Left favors a ban on growing genetically modified plants and wants to strengthen GMO-free regions. Plants made with new genetic engineering methods are also to remain regulated under existing genetic engineering law.

The Left does not want GM plants on the fields. The strict rules should stay for new gene methods too. The EU wants to loosen these rules. The party is against that.

The SPD wants to orient EU farm policy toward the common good and pay farmers far more for what they do for nature and the climate. Organic farming is to be funded so that Thuringia first reaches its 10 percent target and then the national 30 percent target.

The SPD wants to change subsidies for farmers. Those who protect nature and the climate should get much more money. Organic farming should grow. First to 10 percent in Thuringia. Then to 30 percent.

The SPD wants to actively prevent speculation in agricultural land. Compensation for built-on land is to become binding and no longer come mainly at the expense of farmland. The goal is that, on balance, no additional land is sealed.

The SPD wants to protect farmland. No one should speculate with land. Speculating means buying land only to sell it at a higher price. When land is built on, other land should be freed up. Farmland should no longer be lost for this.

The SPD wants to substantially strengthen farmers' position vis-à-vis food retailers and make realistic producer prices possible. Regional economic cycles are to be promoted through value-creation centers and shared infrastructure.

The SPD wants to make farmers stronger against supermarkets. Farmers should get fair prices. More products from Thuringia should be sold locally. Farmers should share storage and processing sites. Local slaughterhouses should stay open.

The SPD wants to substantially reduce pesticide use and support farms in this with money and scientific guidance. Fertilizers, especially mineral fertilizers, are to be reduced as well.

The SPD wants fewer pesticides on fields. Farmers should get money and advice for this. Fertilizer use should also go down. Especially artificial fertilizer.

The SPD does not rule out growing genetically modified plants from the start. It argues that agriculture has to respond to changing climate conditions in order to maintain its yields.

The SPD does not say a flat no to genetic engineering in plants. The climate is changing. Plants must cope with drought and heavy rain. New technology can help with that, the SPD says. It wants to look at the matter carefully.