Germany. Field bean area on the increase

German farmers planted a larger area of land with field beans for the 2020 harvest. Especially in Baden-Wuerttemberg, the area has been considerably expanded.

According to information published by the German Federal Statistical Office, the area of land in Germany devoted to growing field beans for the 2020 harvest amounts to around 56,500 hectares. This translates to a 15 per cent increase year-on-year and sets a new record. In other words, the field bean area has more than tripled over the past ten years. The largest area is found in North Rhine-Westphalia, as it was last year. It comprises 12,700 hectares, which is an increase of 23 per cent. The German state with the second largest field bean area is Schleswig-Holstein, with 9,000 hectares under field bean production. This translates to an expansion of 15 per cent compared to the previous year. However, the biggest expansion in area is seen in Baden-Wuerttemberg, where the field bean hectarage rose 39 per cent to 3,900 hectares. Farmers expanded their field bean areas also in many other German states.

According to investigations conducted by Agrarmarkt Informations-Gesellschaft (mbH), declines in area have been recorded in Brandenburg, Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt and Bavaria. The strongest drop is seen in Saxony, where the area dwindled 21 per cent to 1,900 hectares. Brandenburg has the smallest area under field bean cultivation. Its area shrank 20 per cent to 400 hectares.

Ufop