BERLIN, Dec. 12 (Xinhua) -- For agricultural businesses in Germany, the results for the last financial year which ended in June, fell on average by 18 percent to 54,900 euros (61,100 U.S. dollars), the German Farmers' Association (DBV) announced on Thursday.

"Increased cost pressure, the consequences of the drought years and low producer prices have significantly worsened the company results in the past business year," said DBV President Joachim Rukwied.

According to DBV, the losses were "particularly high" for dairy cattle and cattle fattening farms as well as for refinement farms that generated the majority of their sales with animals or animal products.

Lower profits were "also reflected in the future investments of our farms," said Rukwied, adding that only 30 percent of German farms would plan to make investments in the coming months.

For arable farms in Germany, profits increased by 10 percent although there were "very large regional differences" within the country, said the association.

Farms in eastern Germany in particular had been affected by the drought of 2018, as results deteriorated by 17 percent despite drought subsidies granted by the government.

In October last year, the federal government and the affected states signed an agreement on drought relief for farmers, providing, between them, 340 million euros in financial aid to farmers.

The drought and heat wave in 2018 was a long period of unusually hot weather that led to record-breaking temperatures and wildfires in many parts of Europe.

With the exception of pig farming, the association is expecting no "significant improvement" for the ongoing financial year either. Enditem

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