German farmers are neither left nor right, they are just angry. Not all individuals, but the industry does, have a history of economic decline behind them. Annoyed by the ecological utopias of city dwellers, driven out by retail companies and angered by increasing state control, farmers send society a message that says: this far and no further.

These are the seven pressure points that triggered the Peasant Revolt:

1. The government's cloak-and-dagger operation

Without consulting the Minister of Agriculture or the farmers' associations, Robert Habeck, Christian Lindner and Olaf Scholz decided on their own to reduce agricultural subsidies of almost one billion euros.

Cem Özdemir, responsible minister for two years, had warned the chancellor and vice-chancellor in advance against disproportionate cuts. His contacts in the agricultural industry ignored him and therefore misled him. The coalition agreement said on this topic:

“Our goal is sustainable, future-proof agriculture, where farmers can operate in an economically viable way.”

2. German farmers hang on the needle of the State

Scandal within a scandal: At the same time, the federal government decides to grant the American chip manufacturer Intel ten billion euros to help liquidate the tax coffers. You have to know: Intel is very profitable, it has generated a total net profit of $90 billion over the last five years and currently has a market capitalization of $200 billion on the stock market.

These ten billion are more than the total agricultural subsidies that the Federal Republic and the EU provide to German farmers combined. In total, around six billion euros were allocated to German farmers from the EU budget last year. 2.4 billion euros came from the federal government.

3. Germany is experiencing a mortality of farmers that has not yet stopped

The trend is clear: in 1975 there were around 900,000 agricultural holdings in the then Federal Republic of Germany; in 2022 there were only 256,000. However, agricultural land has not simply disappeared, but has been divided among fewer and fewer companies.

That is why the surface area per farm has increased considerably: 60 years ago, a farm had an average surface area of ​​7.5 hectares, today it is around 63 hectares. There is also talk of the industrialization of agriculture.

At the same time, the ecological wave has increased the proportion of organic farming, up to almost 11 percent of the area used for agriculture. Both systems – the industrial and the alternative agricultural – live and suffer in peaceful coexistence.

4. Farm employees are the true low-wage workers of the republic.

According to the Federal Statistical Office, there are more than half a million people employed in agriculture. 62 percent of them are employed. This group is underpaid. The gross annual salary in 2021 was 18,509 euros.

That was almost half the average salary of employees in all professional and collective bargaining groups in Germany. And this despite the fact that, with an average of 46.7 hours per week, much more work is done in agriculture than in other sectors.

5. The State regulates and controls agriculture.

Numerous requirements and demands from both the federal government and the EU restrict agriculture's ability to act.

Documentation requirements and controls are strict. Mathias von Mirbach, who runs an alternative farm near Hamburg, says: “As if we were constantly under general suspicion.”

6. The consumer wants everything, but not pay

Compared to other industrialized countries, Germans spend less money on food, on average 11.5 percent of their disposable income.

In France it is 13.3 percent, in Italy 14.4 and in Poland even almost 19 percent. Germans want species-appropriate breeding and careful treatment of nature, but at the same time they also want the permanently lower prices of discounters. This paradox increases the suffering of farmers and their animals.

7. The retail cartel dictates prices

In the German food retail sector there has been a notable market concentration. The big four (Edeka, Rewe, Aldi and the Schwarz group) now have a combined market share of 76 percent. This gives them enormous pricing power. The farmer cannot pass on his costs to the customer.

Unlike cars, iPhones and newspapers, there are extreme fluctuations because the farmer has no control over his prices. Peasant President Rukwied reports on the extent of this volatility:

“The price of milk per liter, which was previously 60 cents, has now dropped to around 40 cents again. Wheat prices, which previously reached 400 euros per ton, have also fallen again to around 220 euros. The price of pork is also going down now.”

The farmer has no choice but to accept the offered price. Or his property rots on his own farm. Unlike the labor market – where employers confront unions – here there is power without countervailing power.

Conclusion: The farmers' protest highlights a situation that is unsustainable according to ecological and economic criteria. Politicians and citizens should read this protest for what it is: an uprising against circumstances. Or as the British novelist and liberal Edward George Bulwer-Lytton once said: “Reform is a righting of grievances, revolution is a transfer of power.”