Like other sectors of the German economy, agriculture has undergone profound structural changes in the past 40 years.

Rural Development

In the western German states, the number of farms decreased by about 1.3 million between 1949 and 1997. Attracted by the prospect of better incomes, many farmers have left the land to work in industry and service-oriented enterprises. Furthermore, increasing mechanization has saved considerable manpower: In 1950, there were some 1.6 million farms employing 3.9 million family workers full time. The restructuring of agricultural operations has continued in recent years. In 2000, the number of agricultural holdings in Germany with more than 5 acres of farmland decreased to 421,000. In West Germany the average farm size was 29 hectars (72 acres) and 203 hectars (501 acres) in East Germany.

Family farms still predominate. In contrast to other Western European countries, 57 percent (1999) are part-time farms, i.e. the main family income comes from activities other than farming. The number of full-time and part-time workers on farms in Germany was around 1.4 million in 1999.

As the number of farms and workers has dwindled, productivity has increased. In 1950, one farm worker produced enough food for only ten people; in 1996, that number grew to 108. In spite of this huge growth in productivity, incomes in the agricultural sector have not always kept pace with those in industry. On the whole, net incomes in the German agricultural sector have been quite stable in recent years. In the 1999-2000 marketing year, profits for full-time farms in Germany grew by 13.5% to $33,000 per farm, after a decline by 7.3% the year before.

Agricultural Markets

Germany's major agricultural products are milk, pork, beef, grains, and sugar beets. In some regions wine, fruits and vegetables, and other horticultural products play an important role. In spite of continuing economic difficulties in some importing countries, Germany was able to maintain its high export level of farm products in 1999. Products with a total value of US$ 25.6 billion were exported. Imports, on the other hand, amounted to US$ 41.3 billion. Germany is thus the world’s largest importer of agricultural products.

Maintaining a food supply which meets consumers’ needs at reasonable prices is the foremost aim of Germany's national food policies and is also mandated by the European Union treaty. The Federal Republic of Germany has been achieving this goal for many years, as can be seen by the fact that consumers have been spending an ever smaller percentage of their income on food. In 1997, it was just under 17 percent (excluding spirits and tobacco, etc.).

Germany’s markets offer consumers an extraordinarily wide range of food products to choose from. Controls carried out by producers themselves, legal provisions, which are repeatedly adapted in light of the latest scientific knowledge, and food monitoring all protect the consumer from health hazards and fraudulent products and help to improve food quality.

(taken from Germany Embassy Washington D.C.)