Making German farms economic

Press, Volume CX, Issue 32430, 17 October 1970, Page 21

Making German farms economic

(N.Z. Press Assn.—Copyright) LONDON, Oct. 14 New efforts are to be taken by the West German Government to ensure that only economic farms receive State aid. Announcing the plans, begun under the previous Government, the Minister of Agriculture in Bonn, Mr Josef Ertl, said that too often in the past, money from the State had done nothing but encourage farms to enter ventures they could not afford to keep up. In a bid to streamline German farming, the plans also provide various social aids for farmers giving up their farms and offer special transitional assistance to concerns not capable of development.

Aid will be forthcoming in the future only if the farmer draws up a farm development plan for his farm, showing that over a period of four to six years the farm can at-

tain an over-all income per head of labour of something over SNZ4OOO. The exact figure, probably in many cases much higher than SNZ4OOO, will be calculated according to the wealth of the province (lander) in which the farmer lives, and it may be lowered in cases of major hardship. Initially the scheme will be begun by the Federal Government, but the landers will be participating with 40 per cent of the financial burden by 1972. The major new incentive to get farmers off the land and into business, is a 77 per cent subsidy for the back social security tax that might fall due on a man leaving the land for industry. There are also pensions for older farmers giving up their land and special arrangements for dairy farmers switching to forestry. In fact, the whole scheme carries many of the tenets recommended by the farm expert of the European commission in Brussels, Dr Sicco Mansholt, but not so far adopted formally by the Six. The transitional arrangements are designed to meet the needs of farmers who have no local alternative but to keep farming. They will receive low interest loans to tide them over till they reach either the economic level for promotion subsidies or reach the pension age. German farmers are not sure new subsidies will entirely prevent misinvestment and want further study done

• on the "target value” of a ; farm’s output. There is also objection to • some of the pensions being ■ payable only when the pen- ■ sioner gives up his land hold- : ing. But the German Farmers’ ■ Union says that it basically I welcomes the plan which will first come into force on Janf uary 1 next year.