Germany’s agriculture minister has promised financial support to drought-hit farmers as the Deutscher Bauernverband projected a 2026 grain harvest of 41.9 million tonnes, seven percent below last year, after earlier estimates pointed to severe regional losses.
Agriculture Minister Alois Rainer pledged assistance for harvest shortfalls, with official figures due late August, while the Landwirtschaftliche Rentenbank launched a 200-million-euro emergency programme. Rainer said he did not expect immediate price rises for bread or meat.
Bauernverband president Joachim Rukwied pressed for fertiliser aid to be tripled to 180 million euros, an immediate cut in diesel taxation through at least November, and early payment of EU direct subsidies in October rather than December. Rukwied also rejected accusations from Schleswig-Holstein’s environment minister that agriculture was fuelling climate change through fossil fuel use.