The chief agricultural products - in terms of sales proceeds - are milk, pork, beef, cereals and sugar beets. In some regions wine, fruits and vegetables as well as other horticultural products play an important role. Horticultural products accounted for 40 percent of the proceeds from plant production.

In the old federal states, livestock farms are generally small. The factory-type holding is the exception. In 1994 about 66 percent of dairy cows were kept on farms with fewer than 40 animals, and just under 83 percent of pig-fattening farms had fewer than 600 animals. Livestock account for about 60 percent of the proceeds generated by the entire agricultural sector.

The restructuring of agricultural operations in the new federal states has continued in recent years - albeit at a significantly slower pace. In 1996 the number of individual farm enterprises and partnerships rose, whereas the number of stock corporations and registered cooperatives declined. By 1996 nearly 31,000 agricultural operations had been established - by splitting up existing farms and setting up new ones - from the 4,650 large cooperatives and state farms that had existed in former GDR.