Agri-environmental measures

As agri-environment measures since 2014 commonly agri-environment and climate action (AUKM) are from EU member states or the federal states of the farmers or the landscaping offered (including nature conservation associations and other legal or natural persons in exceptions). AUKM generally provide for usage restrictions for agricultural land use (e.g. limitation of fertilizer application or the permitted number of animals per unit of area ). Every area of the federal state or every European member state offers its own catalog of measures within the framework of specific country programs. In 2017, 359 different AUKMs were offered in Germany alone in grassland (meadow and pasture). For each measure, disbursement amounts were calculated using an opportunity cost approach (based on the failures due to the requested usage restrictions). In some cases, the payout is based on hourly rates (especially in terms of contractual nature conservation ); As a rule, the actor receives a low three-digit euro amount for the implementation of the measure, which is distributed per hectare and year.

AUKM are an essential part of the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development (EAFRD or "2nd pillar") of the common agricultural policy of the EU and are co-financed from state and, to a lesser extent, federal funds. AUKM have been offered since the 1980s. They are based on EU regulation 1305/2013, which specifies the (maximum) funding amount and its calculation as well as the target system that the individual AUKM must serve (e.g. climate protection, while nature conservation is not an independent goal of the EU regulation) . The land managers can participate in the measures voluntarily and have no legal right to the payment of the funds (in contrast to the direct payments of the 1st pillar of the common agricultural policy). Participation is voluntary, but participation usually lasts (mandatory) 5 years. If a land manager does not meet this time requirement, he must repay the amounts previously distributed annually.

example

In Brandenburg / Berlin an agri-environmental and climate measure (contract nature protection) is offered for the conversion of arable land into grassland. The new grassland must be cultivated extensively, ie here it is subject to the following restrictions on use: no turning or loosening soil cultivation, no pesticides. The aim of the measure is the permanent establishment of new grassland. This has positive effects primarily on climate protection (soil carbon) and, to a lesser extent, on species protection.

In Lower Saxony / Bremen the measure "Extensive management of permanent grassland" is offered. As of 2018, it is the only AUKM in Germany where a mowing time is based on phenological processes (simplified: based on the weather- related development of the vegetation). In doing so, it takes up a frequent requirement of nature conservation. The mowing ban applies to this measure until the date that phenologically corresponds to May 25th. This date is determined and announced by the state every year. The mowing is more likely to be adapted to the actual phenological development of a meadow, which favors the development of the plant communities addressed. As further restrictions on use, mineral N-containing fertilizers, pesticides, changes to the soil relief, amelioration and irrigation as well as turning / loosening soil cultivation are excluded. The measure aims at the normal landscape. Areas in strictly protected areas (e.g. nature reserves) cannot be funded through them. The mentioned restrictions are rewarded with 170 € / ha / a.

In 2013, around a third of the agricultural area in Germany was farmed with agri-environmental measures. Around € 610 million was distributed for this.

Potential effects

Agri-environmental and climate measures should contribute to the following goals:

Improvement of the soil structure
Preservation of biodiversity
Water protection by reducing fertilizer and pesticide inputs,
Climate protection by reducing greenhouse gas emissions ,
Animal welfare and
to maintain and maintain the cultural landscape .

In many cases, however, the measures are designed in such a way that farmers do not experience any real management restrictions. In such cases, one speaks of “deadweight effects” that have no significant effect on resource protection . This is e.g. This is the case, for example, when the livestock density envisaged in a measure is set relatively high and does not require any real adjustment by the livestock farmers. National politicians are solely responsible for this; this is not a faulty specification of the EU's common agricultural policy. Effective measures can be found specifically in contractual nature conservation, the measures of which are also agri-environmental and climate measures. The quality of the measures offered by the federal states also fluctuates significantly. This applies in comparison between these (also at the level of the member states of the EU), but also when changing legislative periods within the federal states themselves. For resource protection and farmers, the continuity of the range of measures is a key success factor.

Important agri-environmental measures

The most popular agri-environmental measures include:

Planting flower strips
Extensification of grassland (e.g. no fertilization, delay of the first cutting date / meadow harvest)
Cultivation of a diverse crop rotation

Web links

Information on the subject can be found on the BMEL website

Individual evidence

↑ ^a ^b ^c Nicolas Schoof, Rainer Luick, Guy Beaufoy, Gwyn Jones, Peter Einarsson, Jabier Ruiz, Vyara Stefanova, Daniel Fuchs, Tobias Windmaißer, Hermann Hötker, Heike Jeromin, Herbert Nickel, Jochen Schumacher, Mariya Ukhanova: Grassland protection in Germany: Drivers of biodiversity, influence of agri-environmental and climate measures, regulatory law, dairy industry and effects of climate and energy policy . In: BfN scripts . No. 539 . Federal Agency for Nature Conservation, Bonn - Bad Godesberg 2019, ISBN 978-3-89624-277-8 (257 pages, researchgate.net ).
↑ Nicolas Schoof, Rainer Luick, Andrea Ackermann, Sarah Baum, Hannah Böhner, Norbert Röder, Sebastian Rudolph, Thomas Schmidt, Hermann Hötker, Heike Jeromin: Effects of the new framework conditions of the common agricultural policy on grassland-related biodiversity . In: Federal Agency for Nature Conservation (Ed.): BfN script . No. 540 . BfN, Bonn - Bad Godesberg 2019, ISBN 978-3-89624-278-5 , pp. 234 ( researchgate.net ).
↑ Agri-environmental and climate measures (AUKM), organic farming and animal welfare measures . bmel.de. Retrieved April 18, 2018.
↑ Jan Freese: Nature and biodiversity protection in EAFRD . In: Nature conservation and landscape planning . tape 44 , no. 3 , 2012, p. 69-76 .

[:0-1] Nicolas Schoof, Rainer Luick, Guy Beaufoy, Gwyn Jones, Peter Einarsson, Jabier Ruiz, Vyara Stefanova, Daniel Fuchs, Tobias Windmaißer, Hermann Hötker, Heike Jeromin, Herbert Nickel, Jochen Schumacher, Mariya Ukhanova: Grassland protection in Germany: Drivers of biodiversity, influence of agri-environmental and climate measures, regulatory law, dairy industry and effects of climate and energy policy . In: BfN scripts . No. 539 . Federal Agency for Nature Conservation, Bonn - Bad Godesberg 2019, ISBN 978-3-89624-277-8 (257 pages, researchgate.net ).

[2] Nicolas Schoof, Rainer Luick, Andrea Ackermann, Sarah Baum, Hannah Böhner, Norbert Röder, Sebastian Rudolph, Thomas Schmidt, Hermann Hötker, Heike Jeromin: Effects of the new framework conditions of the common agricultural policy on grassland-related biodiversity . In: Federal Agency for Nature Conservation (Ed.): BfN script . No. 540 . BfN, Bonn - Bad Godesberg 2019, ISBN 978-3-89624-278-5 , pp. 234 ( researchgate.net ).

[3] Agri-environmental and climate measures (AUKM), organic farming and animal welfare measures . bmel.de. Retrieved April 18, 2018.

[4] Jan Freese: Nature and biodiversity protection in EAFRD . In: Nature conservation and landscape planning . tape 44 , no. 3 , 2012, p. 69-76 .