Research and extension effort
The complex German advisory system makes it difficult to provide any total figures for
extension efforts. As an approximation, Länder budgets have been analysed for positions
indicating public expenditure for advisory services for the years 2010 to 2014.
Total sums,
and calculated values per farm holding or UAA differ massively so that no conclusion can
be drawn on the available data. As an example the state government in Schleswig-Holstein
have in 2012 allocated about € 8.4m of their budget to the Chamber of Agriculture for their
advisory services to the states’ 13,600 farms, which divides to a nominal rate of € 635 per
farm.
In contrast, Rhineland-Palatinate state government has accounted in 2012 for public
advisory services support for a total expenditure of € 651,747, which divides into € 34 per
farm (for their 19,200 farmers). Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania paid a support of almost
€ 1.5m to the LMS Agrarberatung GmbH – the privatized advisory service in the state –
for services to the 4,700 farmers (€ 311 per farm).
With these difficulties of assembling
expenditure data on extension efforts for only one year it becomes clear that it is impossible
to provide a comprehensive overview over extension efforts over time.
EU Forecast
euf:ba18h:38/nws-01