Document type : Article published in Réussir
Author: M A Carré, Top Agra
Preview: The German coalition government is preparing a €1 billion investment plan to improve animal welfare on farms. The programme will run for a period of four years (2023-2026) and will apply to all species.
Press outlets in Germany are reporting on action by the German federal government to create a four-year €1 billion investment plan for 2023-2026 to improve animal welfare on farms. In an interview for the agricultural magazine Top Agrar, the German Minister for Agriculture Cem Özdemir (Greens) said he wanted a "quick start" for this programme covering all species.
Help for higher-tier livestock farm certification
Based on work carried out by the Borchert Commission (under the former Minister for Agriculture of that name), the intention is to steer production towards "less intensive livestock farming, providing access to the open air via open-fronted buildings protected by windbreaks or fenced runs", comments Christine Roguet, an expert on the German economy at Ifip (French pork institute). She estimates that the transformation of farms in Germany (for all species) would require an investment of between "1.2 and 3.6 billion Euros each year". Moreover, Ifip comments that the coalition agreement between the SPD (Socialists), the Greens and the FDP (Liberals) makes provision "in general, [for] aid to be granted only for the higher tiers of livestock farm certification". Cem Özdemir has announced that he wants the certification system to begin in 2022, based on the criteria published by the government in 2019.
Article on the same topic published in La Dépêche vétérinaire on 16 March 2022 : Berlin prépare un plan de 1 milliard d’euros pour améliorer le bien-être animal
