Environmental damage caused by the farming industry has been on the rise in recent years. Animals are often mistreated. In germany a growing number of people want to see changes to Agricultural Policy but little has shifted could this be because of lobbyists in the Agricultural Sector are lobbyists more powerful in this policy area than in others. Our Research Revealed a tightly intertwined web of interests in which corporations influential figures manning several lobbying positions and politicians are closely linked a lot is at stake during the making of this film billions of euros in agricultural subsidies were being negotiated in brussels and germany was under e. U. Pressure to finally impose stricter limits on the amount of liquid manure used on its fields. Who is. In the strings behind the scenes. At. Brussels farmers and conservation groups from across europe are protesting outside the headquarters of the European Commission to call for a change in Agricultural Policy they collected 100000 signatures for a petition demanding subsidies for farmers who produce food and in an environmentally friendly fashion the demonstration was organized to coincide with an e. U. Negotiation on farming subsidies totaling 55000000000 euros a year. My 2 boys sling is a member of the European Parliament and an organic farmer the Green Party Politician has been campaigning for years for environmentally friendly farming to be a hoarded with subsidies. It doesnt on the side but on the other side there are powerful lobby interests its not as if money isnt being made from farming in europe and its a profitable business in the Food Industry as one of the main export earners so naturally there is here to ensure that the a lot of money into the Agricultural Sector where no vision you want and not got. Much in hustling says taxpayers money is currently being used to interrupt the support of corporations but that it should Serve Society as a whole. The European Parliament has been negotiating the redistribution of farming subsidies for months a total of 55000000000. 00 euros per year the largest slice of the e use expenditure powerful lobby groups are clamoring to maximize their share. But whose interests will prevail. In the European Parliament martin who is lying is part of a team negotiating farming issues for the green party and hes preparing for him to basic scheduled for the next day going to europe this guy hunnish no ransom a Senior Adviser on agriculture and Rule Development joins well hes saying to go over the strategy. With. Well. I think we should try to push the point that the current agricultural challenges are going to get worse if things dont change soil and fertility will drop further. After working with that yeah sure but thats why we have to emphasize that even more there are plenty of figures and supporting documents and the commission described the situation correctly in its appraisal so the question is why are we taking action yet. That should be enough for the 2 minutes this is just because its why we do it you 2 minutes is what martino weaselling will have to present his most important arguments to other members of the European Parliament. Sean and i do have a degree of anger in me its just ridiculous that they still havent understood it. We have so much evidence that this form of farming will be our ruins forgiven but there are still people sitting there saying now everythings ok if we can explain it in a different way theyll understand it and indeed us all. Its the evening before the 1st round of talks which sides interests will come out on top in the debate and why. The next morning german conservative m. E. P. Albert dess is likewise preparing for the debate. Dess is also chairman of byron lund one of the biggest producers of Dairy Products in germany he takes a skeptical view of investments in environmental protection. To discuss your mindless i find arguments calling for the farming sector to become more environmentally misled even when the it so if we said that from now on if a 20 percent of the land should be used environmentally if you forgive that would result in production being relocated to farming areas around the world for the. Death says that if more german land is used in a way that benefits the environment major producers will inevitably go elsewhere he wants the status quo maintained under which funding is awarded on a per hectare basis desk has offices around the corner from that of social democrat maria noyes szell she takes exception to taxpayers money being allocated according to land area finish that is the big question is which pharmacy receives support and let me answer for me is the public funding should be facilities is in the Public Interest you should get money is not simply for owning land but depending on what you do with it its activities that ought to be rewarded not ownership since there are 2 clear. Camps here policies that favor the environment and the common good or those that mean the more land you own the more money you are paid and. The different parties make their way over to the Agriculture Committee. Will also be there and will face powerful opponents. In the olds industry and if the Food Industry and its representatives here in parliament so powerful i believe things would be moving in a different direction neal but the Food Industry depends on direct payment subsidies to be able to compete in export markets of export mark to getting caught. Martin points thing wants to see an eco friendly Agricultural Policy as do environmental and Consumer Protection groups the e. U. s farming policy is hammered out here by the Agricultural Committee which side will end up getting its way albert desk is the c. E. O. Of a major Dairy Producer martin hoisting is an organic farmer. And maria noise is a former teacher. Who claims to be a. Little. On the awkward. Philco game is the European Commissioner for agriculture and Rural Development and an advocate of area based subsidies. To ensure. For the community in particular where increasing the areas of persons envision a. Time for marching whistling to have his say. So hows things you know. Stuff most of the week proposal from the commission looks like things will get even worse except for those few fancy headlines that. Will point sling managed to convince his colleagues well be returning to the debate in brussels later. To. Cologne back at our editorial offices we want to investigate who is pulling the strings behind closed doors our industry lobby groups determining Agricultural Policy and if so how. We come across a revealing document from 2015 by the Scientific Advisory board of the German Ministry of agriculture the paper concluded that policy was strongly influenced by Interest Groups because of the powerful and effective farming and agribusiness lobby. How does this impact farmers and what has changed in the past 4 years. We head out to do some research on the ground one environmental issue is ground Water Pollution its been known for years that the excessive use of liquid manure in fields leads to nitrate groundwater contamination in june 2800 germany was condemned for exceeding e. U. Fertiliser limits and currently faces fines of up to 850000. 00 euros per day until it reduces its use of liquid manure. Or in north rhinewestphalia where a lot of liquid manure is produced how are the farmers dealing with the problem. This farm belongs to martin ron shoulda who also rears pigs he has had this farm for 40 years and as we arrive hes preparing a delivery of pigs for slaughter. Currently each pig yields 20 euros in profit in some years this drops to just 6 heroes. I. Dont think that im funny without you come out sure thing about this is Pretty Simple right now its 20 euros per pig if i sell 1000. 00 pigs a year all i earn is 20000. 00 euros how theyre trying and thats our Family Income would be a fun thing you dont get far on that from me and im come theyre coming to 500. 20000. 00 euros for one year of hard work from shields and maybe a part of a villian euro industry but his own profit margin is slim. And nick from now if we currently have 850. 00 picks from us if we wanted to live soley off that pigs wed have to have 4000 year calls and its insane it would mean even more liquid manure that needs distributing. The farmer says he already has too much manure he has fields full of crops but they arent enough to dispose of all the animal waste his manure tank as he shows us is full to the brim from. The job and will already have far too much liquid manure for our fields we have to have 300 cubic meters picked up and taken away because we have too many pigs from the fish while. The excess manure ends up several 100 kilometers away on other farmers fields liquid manure is a valuable fertilizer but there is simply too much of it what kind of system is this where a pig is now worth practically nothing small scale farmers live at subsistence level and the huge quantities of liquid manure are increasingly polluting germanys Drinking Water. Each pig that run children drives off to the slaughterhouse has a socalled smaller weight of a around 100. 00 kilos the average price of pork in german supermarkets is 6. 00 euros 70 per kilo. Every year some 65000000. 00 pigs are slaughtered in the country its a 1000000000 euro market that is a huge earner for industry. Chemical Companies Make money from medication and pesticides the Farm Supplies sector from fodder mixtures and fertilizers the agro financial industry from loans for Agricultural Machinery and large scale animal sheds the Meat Industry from slaughtering and processing and finally the Retail Sector from the sale of food products. And production continues to rise germany is now the worlds furred biggest exporter of food. In order to survive marching rumsfeld to says hed have to expand which would 1st mean going into debt there is a Farmers Union but he doesnt sense much support from them. Up on for bond thank you bob they have no interest in the Small Farmers only in the quantities of feet they can sell and then keeping the speed pellet plants running. A lot of people representing the union also sit on the boards of b. Companies including the collectors the lot and insurance for x. Factor of them or and for the who i cant make sense of it im going to go out at the end we have managers in the union who are at the same time working for Major Companies also fumes its an orange in for ban. In response to work weary the german Farmers Union insisted it also represents the interest of small scale farmers. The Agricultural Industry continues to increase turnover but at what price to the public our next stop is lower saxony where we meet a gun harms from the old indoor water board for years hes found the nitrate levels in water just below ground to be worryingly high for a 520. 00. Also were very concerned that the pollution were currently only seeing below the surface well at some point seep deeper and to the level we get our water from him. Based on his measurements hydrologist is able to calculate how the ground Water Quality will deteriorate in the future. What does he make of the governments approach. And im stuck. In stead of recognizing the problem early on and working with us on solutions and they said there was no nitrate problem i knew a few of them still claim that one off yes the nod of the e. U. Was threatening to impose fines time is running short on action has to be taken to. We accompany him to the lab where he will inspect his latest sample too much nitrate in Drinking Water is carcinogenic with Young Children particularly at risk expensive filter systems might soon become necessary but that would almost double the price of water in some regions according to the energy and Water ManagementIndustry Association todays results are hardly encouraging. 119. 00 just under 120. 00 milligrams per liter thats more than twice the permitted limit and. His colleagues elsewhere in germany are also finding critical levels water board officials are urgently calling for measures to be taken. Come from here when it comes to fighting for more stringent regulations for manure we continually find ourselves up against the agribusiness lobby. Theyve been managing to prevent stricter regulations for years on the. Sofa and. Could tightening germanys fertilizer legislation keep the countrys Drinking Water safe its a debate with a lot at stake because less liquid manure would also mean fewer pigs which would in turn have consequences for the entire industry for years the German Government has failed to agree on a solution. Makes you wonder who is in bed with home theres a lot of money involved who actually and fluence is farming policy thats the question for. Our Parliament Members subjected to so much lobbying influence that you have to ask whether theyre still acting with the publics interest in mind which. We began researching whose interests politicians in key positions are really representing and begin examining how fertiliser legislation was decided in the past. Germanys government has known for years that it has to act not least. From the e. U. Over excessive nitrate levels in the ground water time and time again however amendments have been postponed in 2016 the German Parliaments Agriculture Committee began examining how much liquid manure should be allowed on crops attending the meeting was one of the most renowned scientists in his field he calculated how much nitrogen from liquid manure or artificial fertiliser crops need to grow. Thats little warm welcome to you all i would like to introduce our expert speaker a professor. From the christiane alberich to university and in the recitation so cute. Together with 30 other scientists Friedhelm Talbot calculated how much nitrogen plants such as maize need to grow. The researchers found this to be 150 kilograms per hectare and professor talbot recommended this figure at the hearing. But just before the negotiation ended the committee decided to recommend 200 kilograms of nitrogen perhaps tear significantly more fertiliser than the plants can actually absorb according to the experts the surplus seeps into the groundwater in the form of nitrates. The scientists were asked for their Expert Opinion at the Agriculture Committee hearing but their findings were not adopted this. Exterior and its extremely problematic for a scientist to see how legislation is being based on deals here find on levels of fact that are far removed from scientific knowledge up on different stuff if you know how is it. Were meeting professor talbot 2 years after the hearing he tells us the 27000 amendment regarding the nitrogen level has had enormous consequences. Just adored the consequence. Armors can now use this additional amount of fertilizer this was not on the agenda beforehand it was slipped into those negotiations right at the end these are fine but high horses and who was behind that. To answer this question we begin by identifying which german Parliament Members worked on the legislation the preparation of such bills takes place behind closed doors here in the Agriculture Committee this is where decisions are made on how animals are kept and how food is produced. Our analyses revealed that almost half the parliamentarians on the committee have direct links to agriculture. A large proportion of them also hold high level positions in the agriculture industry in the Farmers Association or in the agribusiness Financial Sector and that proportion is particularly high in the conservative c. D. U. C. S. U. Parliamentary group. What did these m. P. s say and do in the committee in 2017 freakish ostend off from the green party remembers the negotiations vividly did seem to move but all that the christian democrats a Christian Social Union people did was start with the they torpedoed the whole thing with you and it was an endless process of the we in the opposition got a pretty good picture of events because social democrat colleagues would come over to cry on our shoulders and they said you cant imagine how tough going the negotiations are how difficult it is to get any kind of agreement go. Vilhelm place meyer is from the Junior Coalition partner social de