In Germany, a real battle for free agricultural land has broken out. Farmers can often no longer keep up with the high prices that developers of wind turbine and solar parks bieden, causing more and more small tenants to lose their rental and lease contracts.
By 2030, at least three quarters of Germany's electricity consumption must come from renewable energy sources. The Germans are already at around sixty percent. They want to get rid of gas and oil imports from Russia and their own air-polluting lignite-fired power stations as quickly as possible. Because the government provides incentives for climate-friendly energy generation (solar panels!), this change has been going on for several years.
As a result, the prices of agricultural land in Germany are skyrocketing. For example, the construction of a solar field ('glass on grass') yields 5,000 euros per hectare per year, ten times the average agricultural lease price. And for wind farms, this can even amount to 20,000 to 50,000 euros. These compensations make it difficult for farmers to retain land for their agricultural purposes, Agrarheute reports.
Landowners prefer to rent their land more profitably to solar or wind farm operators and there is less and less land available for agriculture and livestock farming, reports Agricultural habit.
For farmers who rely on leased land, the challenges are even greater. In regions such as Rhineland-Palatinate, rents have tripled in the past 15 years. Farmers now pay an average of €600 per hectare, while solar companies earn up to €4,000 bieden. Wind farms provide even higher incomes for landowners.
In addition to the financial pressure, the 'energiewende' also has consequences for the amount of available agricultural land. The German farmers' association DBV warns that some 80,000 hectares of agricultural land could be lost in the next five to six years, which amounts to 20 hectares per day. 'Rural areas must not be developed to produce electricity for cities', DBV CEO Bernhard Krüsken said recently. The farmers' association therefore calls for better protection of fertile agricultural land.
Long-term lease contracts of 30 years or more to energy companies pose an additional risk for agriculture and horticulture. Many agricultural lands that are used for other purposes for a long period of time can lose their agricultural zoning plan status. Lawyers warn that such long-term obligations put farmers under further pressure and severely restrict flexibility in land use.