The future of agriculture is on the minds of farmers and politicians at the Agra 2024 agricultural exhibition, which kicked off in Leipzig on Thursday. "The focus is very much on agriculture right now. This also has a lot to do with the farmers' protests we have seen in recent months," said Saxony's Agriculture Minister Wolfram Günther (Greens) at the opening. He went on to say that Agra is a format that is very good for talking about topics such as unclear future conditions or a lack of planning security.
In his opening speech, Saxony's Minister President and patron of the event, Michael Kretschmer (CDU), once again criticized the removal of subsidies for agricultural diesel, which was hotly debated at the beginning of the year. "The discussion about agricultural diesel was just the straw that broke the camel's back." Kretschmer called on the German government to quickly reduce bureaucracy and impose fewer rules on farmers instead of more. Germany must return to the European level of regulations.
In his speech, Günther also addressed the importance of reducing bureaucracy in agriculture. However, he also emphasized that all of these issues "have not just come upon us in the last two or three years". Rather, these are problems that have existed for several decades.
Agra 2024, with around 1000 registered exhibitors, will be held at the Leipzig Exhibition Center until Sunday. A total of eight thematic areas with almost 250 program items - including sustainability and alternative energies - are among the focal points.
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