Agriculture : Germany

In the old federal states, the number of farms decreased by about 1.4 million between 1949 and 1996. Attracted by the prospect of better incomes, many farmers have left the land to work in industry and service enterprises. Furthermore, increasing mechanization has saved considerable manpower: In 1950 there were some 1.6 million farms employing just under 3.9 million family workers full time. In 1996, however, there were only 509,000 farms with about 266,000 full-time family employees. As the number of farms and workers has dwindled, productivity has increased.

Whereas in 1950 one farm worker produced enough food for only ten people, in 1995 the number was 104. In spite of this huge growth in productivity, incomes in the agricultural sector have not always kept pace with those in industry. Family farms still predominate in the old federal states. In 1996 nearly 90 percent of all farmers worked fewer than 50 hectares (124 acres). In contrast to other Western European countries, a good 55 percent (1995) are part-time farms, i.e. the main family income comes from activities outside farming.