The federal government wants to convert animal husbandry to higher standards. But there is a dispute about the planned funding. Above all, the conditions for maximum animal numbers are a bitter concern for many pig farmers.
Waltershausen (dpa/th) - The Thuringian pig farmers have asked the federal government to improve their plans to reorganize animal husbandry. The upper limits provided would exclude many farms from the subsidy, criticized the managing director of the Thuringian Farmers' Association, Katrin Hucke, before a specialist day for pig farmers this Thursday in Waltershausen. Above all, Hucke was critical of the planned upper limit for the subsidy for up to 3,000 fattening pigs sold per year.
"That doesn't do justice to many companies because they produce more pigs - also to be able to survive on the market," Hucke told the German Press Agency. The size of the barn should not be decisive for funding, but the question of whether animal welfare is observed. The federal government is obviously assuming that only small farms can produce animal welfare. But that is not the case.
Among other things, the federal government wants to launch a mandatory animal husbandry logo with five levels from the legal minimum standard to organic. It is planned as a first step for pork in the trade. In addition, a program with one billion euros by 2026 for pig farmers is to come to promote the construction and conversion of stables and the ongoing additional costs of better husbandry. The coalition is still struggling to secure long-term financing.
According to Hucke, simplified approval procedures are required for converting the stables. In addition, meat from abroad must also be subject to labelling. With the introduction of a label of origin, German animal welfare measures could not be circumvented by European competitors, said Hucke.
According to the farmers' association, there are almost 600 pig-keeping farms in Thuringia. The number of pigs in Bavaria has fallen from around 833,000 animals in 2011 to around 597,000 last year.
