In light of the ongoing feed shortage, Bavaria is creating further opportunities for farms to utilize additional land for forage production. Both conventional and organic farms can benefit from this. Voluntary fallow land can generally be used for forage production. This also applies to areas included in certain eco-schemes, the Bavarian Cultural Landscape Program (KULAP), or contractual nature conservation schemes.
In these cases, however, the respective subsidy is forfeited if the land is used for forage production. Examples include voluntary fallow land under eco-scheme 1a, areas designated for contractual nature conservation measures G12 and G13, biodiversity strips under KULAP measure K51, and field bird islands under KULAP measure K60. An additional option exists for field bird islands: If their vegetation is harvested after August 15, the subsidy can still be granted. Farms should contact their responsible agricultural office before using such subsidized areas. “When feed becomes scarce, we must give farms every reasonable degree of flexibility. That’s why we’re creating additional opportunities to actually use existing crops as feed. Those who forgo subsidies in this exceptional situation should be able to use the corresponding areas for their animals. And where we can reconcile use and subsidies, we’ll make that possible too,” said Agriculture Minister Michaela Kaniber.
Bavaria is also providing additional relief for organic farms. They can now use areas with green manure in organic farming (NC942) as well as corn originally intended for grain harvesting as silage for animal feed. Anyone wishing to take advantage of these opportunities must notify their local agricultural office in advance to avoid sanctions. In addition to these legal simplifications, Bavaria is focusing on concrete technical support for farms. The Bavarian State Research Center for Agriculture is providing targeted technical information and advisory recommendations on the current drought.
It has already published an article in the Bavarian Agricultural Weekly on dealing with premature ripening in corn. Further articles with specific recommendations for action will follow. They show farms what short-term options exist to reduce impending feed shortages and to make the best possible use of existing feed reserves. The Bavarian Ministry of Agriculture already recognized the inadequate supply of roughage and forage such as hay or silage due to this year’s drought as a state of emergency within the meaning of European organic farming law.
This allows affected organic farms to receive exemptions for purchasing conventional roughage and forage under certain conditions. However, since this option is not suitable for every farm or in every situation, Bavaria is now expanding the possibilities for developing additional feed reserves on their own land. “Our farmers can’t change the weather. But we can do everything we can to provide them with practical solutions in this difficult situation. The crucial thing now is that as much available feed as possible reaches where it’s needed – the animals on our farms,” said Minister Kaniber.
