German farmers call for emergency measures over poor harvest

BERLIN – German farmers want the government to provide emergency assistance following a poor harvest due to extreme drought this year.

The head of the German Farmers Association said Wednesday that cereal crop harvests nationwide are down 25.6 per cent compared with the average of the previous five years.

Joachim Rukwied told reporters in Berlin that the harvest in some parts of Germany could be said to have failed entirely. For the remaining months, “we urgently need rain,” he said.

Like much of Europe, Germany has seen little precipitation and long spells of very hot weather since April.

Eight of Germany’s 16 states have already reported damages in the agriculture sector totalling 3 billion euros ($3.45 billion).

The federal government is expected to decide Wednesday how much financial assistance to give to farmers.