Germany's farms are failing despite high food prices

"To coincide with this event, the Heinrich Boll Foundation, which has close ties to the Green Party, has published its "Corporate Atlas 2026." The study states: In Germany, more and more small and medium-sized farms are dying out. One reason is that the domestic supply chains for milk, meat and vegetables are dominated by just four large retail chains that dictate prices and squeeze farmers out of business."

"the researchers write. "Since 2020, we have seen a 35% increase in food prices, but this has not led to an increase in farmers' incomes," said Matthias Miersch, parliamentary group leader of the ruling center-left Social Democrats (SPD) in the Bundestag, during a panel discussion of leading politicians organized by the German Farmers' Association at the start of Green Week."

Green Week in Berlin marks the centenary of the global agricultural fair. The Heinrich Böll Foundation published a Corporate Atlas 2026 linking farm decline to concentrated retail power. Small and medium-sized farms are dying out as domestic supply chains for milk, meat and vegetables are dominated by four large retail chains that dictate prices and squeeze farmers. A survey found 68% of Germans notice rising living costs most in food prices. The COVID pandemic and Russia's war in Ukraine exposed fragile global agricultural supply chains and volatile oil and gas effects. Since 2020 food prices rose 35% without corresponding increases in farmers' incomes. More than half of Germany's land is used for agriculture, with marked east–west differences rooted in former GDR collectivization.

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