As a result of foreign competition, farmers receive prices that may even be under their production costs, and only a fraction of what consumers in the cities pay.
A further fundamental cause of the poverty of German farmers is the difference in prices for agricultural and industrial products when compared to the pre-war period (The agricultural price index is 91.9, the index for finished industrial products is 118.2.)
Reduced purchasing power and unbearable interest and tax rates have led to catastrophic agricultural indebtedness, which today totals about 15 billion, and devours the available operating capital. Farmers today can pay neither taxes, interest, nor debts, nor are they able to till their fields and bring in the harvest due to a lack of operating capital.
The result: Further impoverishment of framers, reduced purchasing power, increased unemployment, and a lessening of the German people’s ability to feed itself.