The minimum wage that asparagus and strawberry farmers must pay their harvest workers could be a problem. Several producer associations expect that there will be a drop in the acreage under cultivation.
Hans Lehar - Managing director of OGA - fears the loss of a third of the arable land
Managing director of the Bruchsaler fruit and vegetable sales cooperative Nordbaden (OGA) Hans Lehar, is afraid that a third of the arable land will be lost. In addition to the lack of harvest workers, he also blames the minimum wage that farmers have to pay the seasonal labor force. The farmers would not be able to pay extra for these efforts, because strawberries or asparagus would have to cost 40 or 50 percent more. And in Spain or Portugal, the main competitors in the market, the minimum wage is much lower.
For more information: www.oga-bruchsal.de