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By Georg Moeritz
Weinböhla. His first re-election: 48-year-old Torsten Krawczyk has been re-elected for a four-year term as President of the Saxon State Farmers' Association has been elected. The association announced on Friday that he had been confirmed in office "with overwhelming approval" at the 1st Saxon Farmers' Day in Weinböhla. The Farmers' Day did not take place in public on Thursday - although Minister President Michael Kretschmer (CDU) made an appearance.
A few weeks before the Farmers' Day, Saxony's Ministry of Agriculture announced that the annual EU agricultural subsidies could not be transferred to Saxon farms at the usual time - but would probably be delayed by several months. The reason given was conversion problems due to changes in the rules and a shortage of skilled workers among the software experts contracted. As a result, farmers demonstrated with tractors in front of the Saxon state parliament.
According to the press release, Krawczyk said after his re-election that "noise and riots are not primarily part of our portfolio". Rather, the state farmers' association is putting all its energy into the stability and future of agricultural businesses. In recent years, the farmers' association has faced competition from other associations that are also demonstrating - above all Land schafft Verbindung e.V. Until now, however, the protests have generally taken place together. Around 150 delegates took part in the Farmers' Day in Weinböhla and elected a new association board.
Kretschmer assures farmers of support
According to the press release, Minister President Kretschmer assured the farmers that they would not just receive loans instead of the delayed subsidies. After the payment, there must be a political review. Kretschmer's coalition partner Wolfram Günther (Greens), who is not mentioned in the press release, is responsible for the Ministry of Agriculture, which is in charge of the State Office for Agriculture. Before Günther, Thomas Schmidt (CDU) was Minister of Agriculture in Saxony - a former board member of the farmers' association.
Saxon State Farmers' Association
According to the association's press release, Kretschmer also "signaled" to the farmers that there would be no agricultural structure law against the farmers' association. With this law, the Saxon Ministry of Agriculture wants to prevent the sell-out of agricultural land to investors from outside the sector, as is the case in Brandenburg.
At a press conference at the beginning of the year, Krawczyk said that he thought it was basically right to "keep the Chinese out" and also to cap lease prices. However, the law should not restrict existing large Saxon companies and hinder mergers. The state is not the better entrepreneur.
The re-elected farmers' president Krawczyk has a degree in agricultural engineering. Together with his brother, he is Managing Director of Landgut Westewitz GbR, which specializes in pigs. The farm near Döbeln also has a biogas plant.
