Agricultural Prices Under Pressure: In May 2026, agricultural producer prices were 13.9% below the previous year's level
Under particularly heavy pressure: Milk prices have plummeted by 25%, and table potatoes cost less than half as much as they did last year
Total Producer Prices for Agricultural Products, May 2026
-13.9% compared with the same month a year ago
-1.5% from the previous month
Prices for crop products
-10.4% compared to the same month last year
Prices for livestock and animal products
-15.9% compared to the same month a year ago
Producer prices for agricultural products in May 2026 were 13.9% lower than in May 2025. In April 2026, the year-over-year change was -12.3%, and in March 2026, it was -8.8%. As the Federal Statistical Office (Destatis) further reports, producer prices for agricultural products fell by 1.5% in May 2026 compared with April 2026.
Prices for plant products fell by 10.4% in May 2026 compared to May 2025, while prices for animals and animal products fell by 15.9%. Compared to the previous month as well, prices for both crop products (-0.7%) and livestock and animal products (-2.0%) declined in May 2026.
Price Decline for Table Potatoes Continues
The 10.4% year-over-year decline in prices for plant products is once again attributable, among other factors, to lower prices for table potatoes. In May 2026, these prices were 53.5% lower than in May 2025. In April 2026, the year-over-year change was -54.7%, and in March 2026, it was -55.2%. Compared to the previous month, April 2026, prices for table potatoes rose by 0.6%.
Prices for fruit and grains fell, while prices for vegetables, cash crops, forage crops, and wine rose
Producer prices for fruit in May 2026 were 22.5% lower than a year earlier. There were significant price decreases, including a 33.3% drop for table apples. In contrast, strawberries became 3.3% more expensive compared to May 2025.
Prices for vegetables rose slightly by 0.2% year-over-year, with tomatoes (+28.2%) and cucumbers (+21.5%) becoming notably more expensive. Price decreases, on the other hand, were observed for cauliflower and cabbage, among others, which became 11.0% and 8.7% cheaper, respectively, over the course of the year.
Grains were 9.5% cheaper in May 2026 compared to May 2025. Prices for cash crops as a whole were 2.6% higher in May 2026 than a year earlier, with rapeseed, for example, rising by 5.6%. Prices for forage crops rose slightly by 0.1% compared with the same month a year earlier. This was the first price increase since March 2024 (+0.8% compared with March 2023). Wine prices in May 2026 were 1.0% higher than in May 2025.
Livestock Production: Price Declines for Milk, Pigs, Cattle, and Poultry; Price Increase for Eggs
The 15.9% year-over-year decline in prices for livestock and animal products is attributable, among other factors, to lower milk prices. The price of milk in May 2026 was 25.3% lower than in the same month of the previous year. Compared to the previous month, April 2026, milk prices rose by 1.7%. In contrast, egg prices increased by 13.6% over the course of the year.
Prices for livestock in May 2026 were 11.4% lower than in May 2025. This was primarily due to a 19.5% decline in the price of slaughter pigs. Prices for cattle also fell by 6.7%; this was the first price decline since April 2024 (-1.5% compared to April 2023). Poultry prices in May 2026 were 0.7% lower than in May 2025. This was the first price decrease since October 2024 (-0.6% compared to October 2023). The main factor behind this was a 4.7% drop in chicken prices. Prices for other poultry (ducks and turkeys), however, rose by 5.7%.
Methodological Notes:
The Agricultural Producer Price Index measures the trend in agricultural sales prices (excluding value-added tax) in Germany and thus reflects price trends at the primary production stage. The annual and marketing year results are calculated on a seasonally adjusted basis and therefore often differ from the arithmetic mean of the monthly indices for January through December for the calendar year or July through June for the marketing year.
Note: This article has been translated using a computer system without human intervention. LUMITOS offers these automatic translations to present a wider range of current news. Since this article has been translated with automatic translation, it is possible that it contains errors in vocabulary, syntax or grammar. The original article in German can be found here.
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