Activities of non-agricultural and supraregional investors on the agricultural land market in Germany

Investments in agricultural land have gained particular public attention both internationally and in Germany. The aim of this study is to take stock of these activities on the agricultural land market in Germany. Their relevance is explored, as well as their influencing factors and impacts on the availability of land, on agricultural production, and on local and regional development. The main part of the study consists of four regional case studies, three of them in the new 'Lander' (former GDR). In each region covered by a case study, structured interviews were conducted with about ten farm managers and ten regional experts. The group of 'non-agricultural investors' is very heterogeneous and cannot be delimited by clear indicators. There are many investors who buy single plots (for the purpose of renting) or single agricultural holdings (especially in the new 'Lander'), but there are few large supra-regionally oriented investors. As a whole, activities of non-agricultural investors have obviously not increased in recent times. The judgement on their impacts depends highly on the selection of the regional case studies, the interviewees and their own interests. While local farmers mainly have a critical attitude towards investors, local officials have a much less negative or even positive view in this regard. The enormous variety of non-agricultural and supra-regional investors and of their characteristics and behaviour prohibit over-simplified answers.