Farmers in Germany lament falling prices ahead of major trade show

German farmers have raised the alarm over growing price pressure as industry representatives are set to gather for a major trade fair in Berlin later this week, reported dpa.

"The price situation on the agricultural markets is disastrous at the moment," president of the farmers' association Joachim Rukwied said ahead of the start of Berlin's International Green Week on Friday.

The price for a kilogram of pork has dropped to €1.45, while the price for wheat has fallen below early 1980s levels, Rukwied said.

Prices for sugar and potatoes have gone down too, while wine growers are facing their worst crisis in decades, he said, calling on the government to act.

"We finally need to reduce costs across the entire industry," he said.

Rukwied wants cuts to red tape as well as industry-specific solutions to trim labour costs. Germany's minimum wage, which was raised to €13.90 per hour on January 1, is twice as high as salaries paid to farm workers in Spain or Poland, he said.

But while farmers are complaining of low margins, 2025 was a good year for the German food industry as a whole, with sales in the sector rising by some 4% to nearly €242 billion year-on-year, according to the BVE industry association.

In a BVE industry survey, more than half of the companies questioned rated their current earnings situation as "satisfactory," "good" or even "very good."

Nevertheless, respondents said that they felt business conditions in Germany had deteriorated in recent years, BVE president Christoph Minhoff said.

Berlin's International Green Week is considered one of the largest exhibitions for food, agriculture, and horticulture in the world.

Over the course of the 10-day event, organizers expect around 345,000 people to visit the exhibition grounds.

Attendees can sample international and regional specialities from thousands of exhibitors from all across the globe.