Farmers' expectations of the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) starting 2023

This study deals with farmers' expectations of the future design of the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP). In addition to sustainability in agriculture in general, the focus of this study lies on the so-called eco-schemes, the new measures of the first pillar of the CAP. The organic regulations aim to link direct agricultural payments more closely to environmental and climate performance in the future.By means of expert interviews, the willingness of Hessian farmers to implement eco-schemes in the future was analyzed. In addition, it was examined what expectations the surveyed farmers have of the design of a sustainable agriculture.Accordingly, the farmers in this study were rather critical both with regard to the environmental impact of these one-year measures in general, as well as the associated additional effort, both also in relation to the designated subsidy rates.However, the actual decision for or against the implementation of one or more echo-schemes will in future be significantly influenced by the market prices for agricultural products. Finally, those agricultural products are in direct competition with eco-schemes for non-productive areas, flowering areas, etc., or the input costs.With regard to farmers' expectations of the CAP, it is clear that these relate in particular to the role of politicians and consumers, but also to the own initiative of the farmers themselves. Changes in these areas could therefore have a positive impact on agriculture and contribute to more sustainable agriculture.