Rents for agricultural land in Germany have risen significantly in recent years. Last year the average per hectare was €357. That is an increase of 9 percent compared to 2020 (€329).
There were major regional differences between the German states. While an average rental price of € 99 was estimated in Saarland, the rent and lease price in the agricultural areas bordering the Netherlands were considerably higher. In North Rhine-Westphalia, an average of €560 was owed. In Lower Saxony (€548), Schleswig-Holstein (479) and Bavaria (415) rents were also significantly above the national average.
Of the total 16.6 million hectares of agricultural land in Germany, approximately 60 percent consists of leased land; 38 percent is owned by farmers. The majority of the leased land consists of arable land (69 percent), followed by permanent grassland (27 percent) and other leased land (4 percent). The latter include areas with vineyards and tree fruit, or nurseries and greenhouses.
There are also major differences in legal forms between the various agricultural companies. Last year, about 85 percent in Germany were sole proprietorships, more than half of which were part-time businesses. A minority (12 percent) were partnerships and companies as well as legal entities, including joint stock companies and GmbHs. But these cooperatives manage an average of 176 hectares per company, considerably larger than individual companies with 46 hectares.
Their market position compared to smaller companies is also strong: large companies together manage approximately 39 percent of the agricultural land in Germany.
There are several reasons why rents are rising: including agricultural land in general becoming scarcer, but also technological progress and the centralization of companies. This leads to more competition'. For example, livestock farms need more space to house more animals.
The World Wildlife Fund is critical of this. “Land is an object of speculation,” says Rolf Sommer, head of agriculture and land use at WWF Germany. German agriculture needs diversity, but European agricultural policy is going in the wrong direction, according to WWF. Across the EU, 80 percent of direct payments from the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) go to just 20 percent of companies.
In the future, hectare subsidies should be abolished and funding should be provided for socially relevant services such as the conservation of biodiversity, protection of groundwater and climate or animal welfare.