The agricultural sector is often critical of a switch to a more plant-based diet. In their study, Dr Jörg Rieger and colleagues show that a more plant-based diet could increase agricultural incomes in the future - even in regions where livestock farming currently predominates. By 2050, a change in diet could increase incomes in German agriculture by up to 20 per cent and in the European Union by up to 70 per cent. Regions with intensive livestock farming would suffer losses in the short term, but would benefit from the adaptation in the long term. The study recommends political support for the transformation, for example through financial subsidies and retraining programmes.
Every year, Wiley Publishing honours the most cited papers. The award for 2023 went to the publication by Dr Jörg Rieger and colleagues in the Journal of Agricultural Economics.
Further information can be found in our press release:
https://www.thuenen.de/de/newsroom/detail/langfristig-auf-der-gewinnerseite-1
Original publication:
Jörg Rieger, Florian Freund, Frank Offermann, Inna Geibel and Alexander Gocht (2023): From Fork to Farm: Impacts of more sustainable diets in the EU-27 on the agricultural sector, Journal of Agricultural Economics. https://doi.org/10.1111/1477-9552.12530
