The German Farmers' Association expects significantly higher food prices as a result of the Ukraine war.

In Europe and Germany, however, bottlenecks are not expected until the first quarter of 2023, said Association President Joachim Rukwied on Friday.

"In my view, the supply of food for the next year is guaranteed." Hamster purchases are therefore nonsensical.

Rukwied contradicted statements from the Schleswig-Holstein farmers' association that the price of bread could rise to up to ten euros.

"I would see the price increase for bread less," said Rukwied.

The farmers' association presented a catalog of demands to Minister of Agriculture Cem Özdemir (Greens) in order to curb costs and secure production.

The Central Association of Farmers is demanding, among other things, a suspension of the energy tax.

The energy cost relief package agreed by the traffic light coalition on Thursday is an important first step.

"It is crucial that this relief is also fully understood in the case of agricultural diesel." The exceptional release of ecological priority areas for production purposes is also required.

The association also proposes a fertilizer reserve for spring 2023, since the energy-intensive production of nitrogen fertilizer is dependent on natural gas.

"Should there be a short-term interruption in the gas supply or the production of fertilizer, significantly lower harvests would be programmed from 2023, which would also call the supply into question."

Triple the price of nitrogen fertilizers

According to Rukwied, the production costs of arable crops such as wheat, maize and rapeseed have already increased by a third for farmers, for example due to higher energy and fertilizer prices.

The price of nitrogen fertilizer, for example, has tripled compared to the previous year.

Some manufacturers have stopped production because the gas required for this has become too expensive.

Food prices would therefore have to rise so that more could reach the farmers and they could keep up production, Rukwied said.

According to the association, consumers are facing “food price jumps of an unprecedented magnitude”.

The increased costs for farmers are particularly noticeable in the case of less processed products.

Rukwied: "The price increase for meat and milk on the shelf is likely to be higher than for grain products because our share of it is larger." However, the increased production costs of the farmers accounted for only part of the rising prices increase in costs."

“The first ships could no longer put out to sea, for example with wheat.

They were already loaded.

Nobody knows where they are today," said Rukwied.

“We assume that there may be supply bottlenecks, particularly in North Africa, in the Arab region, but also in Asia.

These are the main destinations, for example from Ukraine.”