Chapter 3
New Trends and Drivers for Agricultural
Land Use in Germany
Dieter Kirschke, Astrid Häger, and Julia Christiane Schmid
Abstract Agricultural land use in Germany is faced with new drivers and conflicts.
There has been a continuous downward trend in agricultural land use since reunification, and agriculture seems to be increasingly squeezed by various land use demands.
Whereas land prices and land rents have stayed rather stable during the 90ies and at
the beginning of the new millennium, they have started to go up considerably during
the last ten years. At the same time the agricultural sector is faced with deteriorating
environmental indicators and a changing land use structure and concentration. International agricultural prices have become a key determinant for land prices in Germany
contributing to increasing land prices. Equally, new demands for nature conservation and natural resource protection under the Common Agricultural Policy have
contributed to make agricultural land scarcer, and bioenergy production under the
Renewable Energy Act has considerably affected land demand and prices in various
regions. In East Germany, some land market specialties relate to the farm structure
and the land privatization process after reunification. In view of these developments,
there is a new policy debate on agricultural land market interventions.
Keywords Agricultural land use · Land markets · Common Agricultural Policy
3.1 Introduction
Land is a limited and scarce natural resource faced with competing and rising
demands. These demands, basically, comprise land use for agriculture, nature and
natural resource protection, industrial areas and human settlements, and infrasD. Kirschke (B) · A. Häger · J. C. Schmid
Faculty of Life Sciences—Thaer-Institute—Department of Agricultural Economics,
Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Unter den Linden 6, 10099 Berlin, Germany
e-mail: dieter.kirschke@hu-berlin.de
A. Häger
e-mail: astrid.haeger@agrar.hu-berlin.de
J. C. Schmid
e-mail: j.c.schmid@agrar.hu-berlin.de
© The Author(s) 2021
T. Weith et al. (eds.), Sustainable Land Management in a European Context,
Human-Environment Interactions 8, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-50841-8_3
39
New Trends and Drivers for Agricultural
Land Use in Germany
Dieter Kirschke, Astrid Häger, and Julia Christiane Schmid
Abstract Agricultural land use in Germany is faced with new drivers and conflicts.
There has been a continuous downward trend in agricultural land use since reunification, and agriculture seems to be increasingly squeezed by various land use demands.
Whereas land prices and land rents have stayed rather stable during the 90ies and at
the beginning of the new millennium, they have started to go up considerably during
the last ten years. At the same time the agricultural sector is faced with deteriorating
environmental indicators and a changing land use structure and concentration. International agricultural prices have become a key determinant for land prices in Germany
contributing to increasing land prices. Equally, new demands for nature conservation and natural resource protection under the Common Agricultural Policy have
contributed to make agricultural land scarcer, and bioenergy production under the
Renewable Energy Act has considerably affected land demand and prices in various
regions. In East Germany, some land market specialties relate to the farm structure
and the land privatization process after reunification. In view of these developments,
there is a new policy debate on agricultural land market interventions.
Keywords Agricultural land use · Land markets · Common Agricultural Policy
3.1 Introduction
Land is a limited and scarce natural resource faced with competing and rising
demands. These demands, basically, comprise land use for agriculture, nature and
natural resource protection, industrial areas and human settlements, and infrasD. Kirschke (B) · A. Häger · J. C. Schmid
Faculty of Life Sciences—Thaer-Institute—Department of Agricultural Economics,
Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Unter den Linden 6, 10099 Berlin, Germany
e-mail: dieter.kirschke@hu-berlin.de
A. Häger
e-mail: astrid.haeger@agrar.hu-berlin.de
J. C. Schmid
e-mail: j.c.schmid@agrar.hu-berlin.de
© The Author(s) 2021
T. Weith et al. (eds.), Sustainable Land Management in a European Context,
Human-Environment Interactions 8, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-50841-8_3
39