The Federal Minister of Agriculture is promoting the change towards more animal protection. The farmers’ association in Schleswig-Holstein, on the other hand, fears for local food production.
On the sidelines of the Agriculture Ministers’ Conference in Kiel on Thursday, hundreds of farmers, fishermen and forest owners protested against the federal policy. Agriculture Minister Cem Özdemir (Greens) accused the demonstrators of a blockade attitude. This relies on “ordinary law,” said the President of the Schleswig-Holstein Farmers’ Association, Klaus-Peter Lucht, at a rally in front of the conference hotel.
However, regulatory law does not solve crises, does not create more animal welfare and does not ensure domestic food production. If Özdemir continues like this, then, according to Lucht, the agricultural products will come from somewhere else – to different social and ecological standards.
Before the meeting, Özdemir had called for broad support for the change to more animal protection in the stables. “By further developing animal husbandry, we want to end the death of farms and ensure that “Made in Germany” continues to stand for good meat from Germany in the future,” the Green politician told the German Press Agency. “This is a feat of strength that we can only succeed together.”
The framework is set so that farmers can further develop their animal husbandry and thus give them an economic perspective again. The following applies: “We want to keep fewer animals better. In doing so, we are also responding to the social changes where less and less meat is being eaten – with a view to animal welfare, the climate and the environment.”
The chairwoman of the Association of German Turkey Producers, Bettina Gräfin von Spee, countered at the rally: “Germany as a location for livestock farming is not being secured, but is being dismantled.”
Source: Stern
