The economic situation in the agricultural sector is particularly strained this year: Many farms are facing significantly lower harvest yields coupled with production costs that have already risen sharply in recent years. Energy, fertilizer, and machinery costs are in many cases significantly higher than they were just a few years ago, while producer prices for grains and other crops have recently come under pressure. Initial analyses show that even a yield decline of “only” 20 to 30 percent can be enough to turn a barely profitable year into a year of losses.
Policy measures such as the reinstatement of the agricultural diesel tax relief are intended to strengthen farms’ liquidity and are important in the short term to provide additional financial relief per liter of diesel. Discussions regarding the amounts and payment schedules show that this could amount to several hundred euros in relief per farm per year—a noticeable contribution, but one that does not compensate for yield risks. After all, whether a field yields 50 dt or 80 dt per hectare ultimately has a greater impact on the annual bottom line than a few cents per liter of diesel.
This is precisely where the role of water in the soil becomes apparent: Even if policy measures reduce costs, the question remains whether plants have enough water available during dry periods to reach their full yield potential. That is why Green Legacy focuses primarily on stabilizing yields. Our water-retaining granules ensure that rainwater is not lost immediately but remains available in the soil—thereby increasing the yield per euro invested in agricultural inputs.
From the perspective of farms, this means that while government measures can help cushion the impact on annual results, they are no substitute for a farm’s own strategy for dealing with dry years. Those who combine financial relief with investments—for example, by using subsidies or diesel tax relief to invest in water-storage technologies—strengthen their resilience for future growing seasons. Soil moisture thus transforms from an “unpredictable risk” into a deliberately managed production factor.
Source: Chamber of Agriculture
