German farmers plant record number of field beans for new harvest
This translated to a 15% increase year-on-year and sets a new record as the field bean area has more than tripled over the past 10 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%.
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% compared to the previous year.
However, the biggest expansion in area is seen in Baden-Wuerttemberg, where the field bean hectarage rose 39% to 3,900 hectares. Farmers expanded their field bean areas also in many other German states.
According to investigations conducted by Agrarmarkt Informations-Gesellschaft 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% to 1,900 hectares. Brandenburg has the smallest area under field bean cultivation. Its area shrank 20% to 400 hectares.