German Asparagus Farmers Left in a Pickle Over Too Few Pickers

It is considered by Germans to be one of the culinary highlights of spring and summer. But this year the asparagus season is likely to be cut short because thousands of hectares of the crop have been left to rot.

The reason, say the farmers, is a lack of pickers. They are blaming the government for making it too hard for migrant workers to work in Germany.

Although Germany has been reluctant to recognize the fact, it has depended for years on foreigners, mainly Poles, to harvest their beloved spargel - the staple of every German dinner table from May to July. The reputed aphrodisiac is typically eaten with melted butter and ham.

There are 178,000 workers doing the backbreaking work across the country and earning €4.78 (£3.25) an hour. Most expect to end up with around €2,000 after two months. But farmers complain they are at least 40,000 pickers down on last year.

Workers, they argue, are being put off by the inflexible working conditions - for example having to stay with the same employer throughout the season - and the low pay rates set by the labor ministry. "We need a third more harvesters than we have," said Dietrich Paul, president of the Association of Asparagus Farmers in Lower Saxony. "If this continues fruit and vegetable plantations in Germany face extinction. Many Poles are no longer prepared to come to harvest the asparagus."

In desperation some farmers have abandoned the harvest. In Brandenburg, 15% has been ruined. The German farmers' union blames the government, which introduced strict regulations limiting the number of work permits that could be issued to eastern European harvest workers. The idea was to encourage unemployed Germans to fill at least 20% of the jobs, an offer that most have ignored, despite threats to cut their benefits.

Polish workers prefer to seek work in Britain or the Netherlands, where wages are higher and working conditions more relaxed. Gerd Sonnleitner, the head of the farmers' union, called for an immediate relaxation of the regulations so that eastern European workers could move more freely in Germany.

"The rules simply do not allow farmers to react quickly according to external influences such as the weather," he said.

White asparagus is the favored crop so the plant is kept under sheets to prevent photosynthesis. But a week too long under the earth, and it is ruined. Although it arguably tastes much the same from region to region, Germans are often very particular about eating the crops grown closest to home. But this year, thousands of tonnes have had to be imported from Greece and Italy to make up the shortfall.

The labor ministry has rejected the criticisms. "The rules have been reached together with the farmers' union, and will remain in place," a spokesman said.