This year’s EuroTier title hits the nail on the head: “Transforming animal farming”. Because making animal farming fit for the future is a key focus for us all.

Animal breeding and animal husbandry are important economic pillars in Europe, particularly for agriculture in Germany. To ensure they stay this way, we need to provide farms with reliable prospects so that they can create transparency for consumers, give greater consideration to animal welfare and climate change mitigation and also sustainably strengthen the future of rural areas. It is precisely for this reason that we in Germany are resolutely tackling the transformation towards future-proof animal farming.

The dramatic and tangible consequences of the climate and biodiversity crises are a warning to us to make our global food and agricultural system more sustainable. This applies in particular to animal farming, which is a significant agricultural driver of the climate crisis. Even if the natural, economic and social challenges of many of our trading partners differ from one another, we can still develop a joint understanding of sustainable food systems. It is therefore not enough to just make animal farming in Germany fit for the future. This is, in accordance with local conditions, a global challenge. But to successfully tackle this challenge, it will need a lot of people to pull in the same direction: farmers, consumers, trade, associations, academia and policy makers.

EuroTier 2022, as the world’s largest specialised fair for professional animal farming, is therefore an ideal platform. It shows the diversity and skills of the agricultural sector, both in Germany and internationally. There is scope for discussions, exchange and innovations, for this generation and the next.

Thank you very much for your commitment. I wish you a successful trade fair, so that we can make progress together.

Yours,

Cem Özdemir
Federal Minister of Food and Agriculture