Financial setback for animal welfare promotion efforts: Rainer's plan falls short at €1.5 billion - farmers express disappointment
Federal Agriculture Minister Alois Rainer has faced criticism from farmers and members of the Budget Committee for the Federal Program on Animal Husbandry, after it was announced that the planned 1.5 billion euros for animal husbandry funds in 2025 and likely 2026 will not be received.
The decision has sparked discontent among farmers, with pig farmer Jürgen Dierauff warning that the previously planned subsidy amounts and scope of funds must be maintained to ensure the viability of the agricultural sector. From the start of the program on March 1, 2024, to July 25, 2025, a total of 243 applications for investment funding and another 414 applications for funding of ongoing costs were submitted, with a total funding requested of 169.6 million euros.
In an effort to simplify the conditions for funding, the committee expects proposals on how to make the program more attractive to farmers and better utilize the funds already provided. Simultaneously, the BMEL should limit project carrier costs. Members of the committee have also demanded concrete plans to make the program more attractive to farmers and better utilize the funds already provided.
The funds for the Joint Task for Agricultural Structure (GAK) remain unchanged at 907 million € compared to the previous year. An additional seed funding of 200,000 € is planned for forest research on climate-resilient forests in 2025, and a commitment authorization of 4.8 million € is planned for forest research on climate-resilient forests in 2026. The budget for agroforestry is also planned to increase by 660,000 €.
However, the agricultural budget remained unchanged at 6.88 billion € compared to the government's draft, leading to criticism from Green Bavarian MP Leon Eckert, who described it as "lacking ambition." The SPD rapporteur Esther Dilcher stated that other budget allocations remain unchanged.
Agriculture Minister Rainer sees this as a success, given the initial plans to cut around 200 million €. The federal government must make appropriate adjustments to building and environmental protection laws to create a positive investment climate for animal welfare-compliant barn conversions. The committee also calls for a comprehensive revision of the Animal Husbandry Identification Law and the Federal Program to Promote the Conversion of Animal Husbandry to be completed by March 1, 2026.
In a positive development, the Tafel Deutschland association has received an additional 1 million € for building a food rescue and logistics strategy. The budget allocation for the Future Program for Plant Protection has been struck, and the search results do not provide specific information about the party affiliations of the members of the Budget Committee for the Federal Program on Animal Husbandry. So far, 114.5 million euros have been approved or paid out, all for investment funding.
The controversy surrounding the cuts to animal husbandry funds is likely to continue, with farmers and members of the Budget Committee calling for a reconsideration of the decision and a more supportive approach to the agricultural sector.
