Agricultural marketing in germany

Traditional German analysis and teaching about agricultural markets, "landwirtschaftliche Marktlehre," is concerned with supply, demand and price formation, instruments and policy decisions by policy makers influencing markets and prices, and market structure and distribution. In this contribution agricultural marketing in Germany will be understood in accordance with the Anglo-Saxon marketing concept. Attention will be paid to: (a) the Marketing environment, in particular food consumption and the competitive position of German agriculture and food industry; (b) the structure of commercialization in particular the agribusiness system and the interrelationships of agriculture with economic sectors supplying to and purchasing from the farmer; and (c) the potentials and limitations of marketing agricultural products. Our paper is primarily confined to the regional states of the former Federal Republic (West Germany). In the description of the marketing environment the present situation in East Germany will be considered too.