Prices rise to up to 20 euros

With the sprouting buds in the garden, many also grows the anticipation for the first asparagus. But given the current temperatures, the beginning of the season is still a long time coming.

Because only when the temperature in the ground reaches about 12 degrees at the roots does the plant drive the first asparagus rods to the height. The Hessian asparagus season is to be opened on April 3. In the next few weeks, only small quantities and high prices will be expected. Because ever higher operating costs, especially the minimum wage increased at the beginning of the year, are increasingly being able to create asparagus farmers. They fear that the royal vegetables are no longer able to achieve the prices they should ask for to cover their costs. That is why some asparagus farmers have started to reduce their acreage. Isabell Bohnert, spokeswoman for the association of the southern German asparagus and strawberry farmers (VSE), already sees the current minimum wage of 12.82 euros per hour as a “huge challenge for farmers”. In order to be able to work costs, the asparagus manufacturers would currently have to request kilo prices between 18 and 20 euros for the first variety of asparagus. In 2024, the kilo of asparagus from the region initially cost between 15 and 18 euros. In the minimum wage, farmers under pressure, the minimum wage rises to 15 euros, as the future coalition has undertaken, the prices would have to be raised even further. However, many farmers doubt that consumers are willing to pay more than 20 euros for a kilogram of the white poles – also because there are cheaper asparagus from abroad. Asparagus from Greece or Morocco often only costs about half of the German harvest despite the long transport routes. The President of the German Farmers’ Association, Joachim Ruckwied, has already called for a uniform minimum wage in Europe in 2023 so that German asparagus farmers remain competitive against producers from abroad. Statistically, every German citizen consumes 1.5 kilograms of asparagus per year. White vegetables are particularly in demand in Easter. Experience has shown that the price curves show up at the beginning of the season, drop in the middle and usually rise slightly again towards the end of the season in June. Good for special photos: drone recording of an asparagus field during the harvesting paein makes a view of the numbers that some producers have already reduced their surfaces. According to the Federal Statistical Office, the asparagus harvest in 2024 with a lot of around 108,000 tons in Germany was 3.4 percent lower than 2023. In the past seven years, an average of almost 120,000 tons of asparagus were harvested a year. The harvest in 2024 is almost nine percent below this average. Compared to the previous year, around 20,400 hectares has been reduced by three percent to 19,800 hectares. Nevertheless, around 85 percent of the asparagus sold from German cultivation are still coming in Germany. Businesses are available in Germany Last year there were 1,357 asparagus growing companies (2023: 1,440 companies), which managed a total of 22,827 hectares (including young systems). There are only partial figures on the situation in Hesse. For example, the number of asparagus growing companies in the Darmstadt-Dieburg district has dropped significantly within ten years. At that time, according to the State Statistical Office, there were 32 asparagus companies in the district, currently only 18. The area for white asparagus has dropped from around 760 hectares to just under 550. According to the statisticians, the effects of the high production costs are already visible nationwide than in 2023 and the decline in the number of asparagus growers. In addition to the increasing minimum wage, the increasing effort for bureaucracy in connection with the foreign seasonal workers ensures annoyance among farmers. You have to take the situation as it is. “Then we have to strap the belt a little closer,” she says, assuming that the first regional asparagus will cost between 16 and 18 euros per kilogram this year. However, since there are several varieties, the offer is staggered in terms of price. “We are looking forward to the season,” says Wendel and hopes that at least the weather will not strain the farmers. The outgoing federal government promised a reduction in bureaucracy. In fact, given the many regulations, the number of his documentation folders has doubled within a short time. Merlau is currently not a lot of thoughts about asparagus sales, because he has a loyal regular customer in his farm shop. “My wage costs have doubled within ten years. There is no other industry, ”says Merlau. “Every further change is threatening for our company,” he said. He regrets that the legislator did not exclude the harvest assistant from the minimum wage, as was required by the farmers representatives. If necessary, he also wants to shut down partial areas in the middle of the season if the weather was supposed to get the harvest. “And we will occupy niches”. One of these niches sees Merlau in the premium asparagus, who still sells well despite high prices. The green asparagus is also an alternative to traditional cultivation. The worries are similar everywhere in the South Hessian asparagus farmers. The bureaucracy, the risk of climate change and the price pressure of the discounters tie some of the desire to cultivate the noble vegetables. “I also have to earn something,” Merlau points out. While politics in food demands more regionality and short transport routes, it breaks part of regional producers with the many guidelines for agriculture, the asparagus growers criticize.

Credit-Read More

// Function to fetch the latest posts
function fetchLatestPosts() {
const feedUrl = ‘https://newskiosk.pro/feed/’; // Replace with your blog’s RSS feed URL
fetch(feedUrl)
.then(response => response.text())
.then(str => new window.DOMParser().parseFromString(str, “text/xml”))
.then(data => {
const items = Array.from(data.querySelectorAll(“item”));
const latestPostsContainer = document.getElementById(“latest-posts”);
latestPostsContainer.innerHTML = ”; // Clear previous posts

// Shuffle the items array
const shuffledItems = items.sort(() => Math.random() – 0.5);

// Select the first 5 items from the shuffled array
const selectedItems = shuffledItems.slice(0, 5);

// Loop through the selected items and display them
selectedItems.forEach(post => {
const link = post.querySelector(“link”).textContent;
const description = post.querySelector(“description”).textContent;

// Create a new post element
const postElement = document.createElement(“div”);
postElement.classList.add(“latest-post”);
postElement.innerHTML = `

${description} Read more

`;

// Append the new post element to the container
latestPostsContainer.appendChild(postElement);
});
})
.catch(error => console.error(‘Error fetching the latest posts:’, error));
}

// Call the function to fetch and display the latest posts
fetchLatestPosts();