20.10.2022

Review: “Farm to Fork Discussion: Increasing Sustainability and Securing Supply”


On October 20, 2022, the "Farm to Fork Discussion: Increasing Sustainability and Securing Supply" took place in Berlin and on livestream, organized by the Grain Club alliance of associations together with other German and European agricultural and food industry associations. On the panel were representatives from the German Bundestag and the EU Commission as well as from the conservation organization WWF, the scientific and the business community.

The event has been met with broad interest. Among 240 guests and viewers in the livestream from Germany and around the world were representatives of politics, embassies, non-governmental organizations, research, science, media, industry and associations.

The debate focused on the joint efforts of all participants to achieve the sustainability goals of the EU Commission's Farm to Fork strategy while avoiding production declines and yield losses. It was an important concern of the agricultural industry to send a signal to politics and society that our industry is ready to make changes towards greater sustainability and that practical applications are already tangible. Increasing efficiency through innovations and technological progress, such as digitalization and precise application techniques, are a real alternative to flat reduction targets under the Green Deal, for example in the use of crop protection products. The potentials of area-specific fertilization, robotics, new genomic techniques, among others, were discussed. It was widely agreed that in implementing the Farm to Fork strategy, more incentives need to be created for farmers, business and industry to develop and apply new technologies. 


Our experts


Franz-Josef Holzenkamp, President of the German Raiffeisen Association (DRV) and Chairman of the Grain Club in 2022

Prof. Dr Stephan v. Cramon-Taubadel, Department of Agricultural Economics and Rural Development, University of Göttingen

Claire Bury, Deputy Director-General in DG Health and Food Safety (DG SANTE)

Kimberly Sawatzki, Head of Agricultural Department, US Embassy

Björn Meyer, Sales Lead Food Ingredients - Cargill Global Edible Oils Solutions; Chairman of the German Association of Wholesale Traders in Oils, Fats, and Oil Raw Materials e.V. (Grofor)

Carina Konrad, MP (FDP), Deputy leader of the Free Democratic Party parliamentary group in the German Bundestag, Chairwoman of the working group VI - Sustainability through Innovation

Christoph Heinrich, Director Nature Conservation, WWF Germany

Jörg Migende, Head of Corporate Public Affairs, Head of Digital Farming, Lead Expert Agribusiness, BayWa AG

Dr. Jörg Müller, Manager Environment and Technology in the Plant Conservation Department, Association of the Crop Protection and Fertilizer Industry in Germany (IVA)

Frank Gemmer, Chief Executive Officer, Association of the Crop Protection and Fertilizer Industry in Germany (IVA)

Detlef Kurreck, Vice President of the German Farmers‘ Association (DBV) and Chairman of the Union for the Promotion of Oil and Protein Plants (UFOP)

Sven Oswald, moderator


The event is organized by:

Energy Efficiency Campaign of the Federation of German Wholesale, Foreign Trade and Services (BGA): energie.bga.de