Agriculture and Environmental Law in the Federal Republic of Germany

Traditional agricultural methods as applied until the end of the fifties mostly preserved the precarious balance between agricultural economy and ecology. The modern, almost industrial forms of agriculture emerging in West Germany in the sixties are characterized by intensive cultivation, high specialization of farmers, mechanization and chemicalization of production. The European Community common agricultural policy has contributed greatly to promote this development, but other factors such as intensive competition among producer countries, high labor costs, the rise of industrial incomes push agriculture in West Germany in the direction of becoming a kind of sister of industry. These modern forms of agricultural production are almost by necessity associated with substantial adverse impacts on the environment.

In a country such as West Germany where over 50 percent of the nation’s land is agricultural land, this problem is of high concern.