Titel-Trader 1.2011.indd - Agritechnica Trader

DLG-Trendmonitor Europe
Focus on market conditions
DLG presents its twice-yearly DLG Trendmonitor Europe, a region-wide
survey that tracks sentiments among 3,500 farmers in nine countries.
DLG’s chief economist, Dr Achim Schaffner, gives his insight on the DLG-
Trendmonitor Europe.
Trader: Who is the DLG Trendmonitor
Europe targeted for?
Dr. Achim Schaffner: The
DLG-Trendmonitor focuses on
the actual business climate for
farming and on the plans for
farm investments in the next 12
months. These results are especially
useful for stakeholders in
the agricultural equipment business,
as it gives them an idea of
the actual investment intentions
and trends in agriculture. Because
the focus is on the coming
12 months, the investment results
of DLG-Trendmonitor Europe
refl ect closely these farmers’
plans for upcoming farm
development, giving a strong indication
of market trends for agricultural
equipment. To give a
European perspective and overview,
we are conducting the
survey in different European
countries – twice a year in Germany,
France, the United Kingdom,
Poland, Hungary and the
Czech Republic and once a year
in Russia, the Ukraine and Kazakhstan.
Trader: How can this target
group use the results of the
DLG-Trendmonitor Europe as a
valuable source of information?
Dr. Schaffner: The results of
the Trend monitor are shared in
the media through DLG’s press
releases of DLG and in various
publications. We are also preparing
fact sheets based on the actual
results, which can be downloaded
from the DLG-website.
Trader: Since the Trendmonitor
started in 2003 till present,
what are some of the key trends
in Europe during those years?
Dr. Schaffner: We see that investment
plans have been relatively
stable especially in Germany,
which is partly because
some investment intentions are
independent of the business climate.
So, despite the economic
crisis during autumn 2009,
we saw an investment quota of
45 percent among Germany’s
Powerful helper for every day
farmers, which indicates relative
investment stability during that
diffi cult business climate. This
shows that farmers make investment
decisions to develop their
farms based on long-term investment
cycles, rather than the
current economic outlook.
Altogether, the DLG-Trendmonitor
Europe shows how
farmers view the change in the
agribusiness market. This is important
information for decision-makers
in agribusiness as
it helps them form their own
assessments of the market and
adopt appropriate business strategies
Trader: Do you think the
Trendmonitor is in some way
refl ective of ground sentiment
of EU agricultural policy and
other national policies in those
countries?
Dr. Schaffner: We see farmers
increasingly focusing their
investment plans based on the
outlook and assessments of the
HOFTRAC ® I WHEELLOADERS I TELELOADERS
AGRITECHNICA 2011
DLG chief economist
Dr. Achim Schaffner.
agricultural markets and less on
political shifts. Because agricultural
markets are gradually being
liberalised, farmers are tapping
on technological effi ciencies to
improve their level of competitiveness
in the market. How
to become more competitive is
the key issue for most farmers.
While in 2003, the foremost
topic was the common agricultural
policy, the shift is now towards
focusing on market trends
and the outlook for agricultural
products and new methods of
production.
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