While at the start of sales in April a kilogram of the premium quality vegetable cost up to 16 Euro, the price of asparagus is currently plummeting to ten Euro in many farm shops and up to five Euro in wholesalers. Some farmers are trying to cushion the increased operating and energy costs a little in terms of price and are one euro higher in the price segment than in 2021. Other farmers have already taken asparagus areas out of production due to a lack of demand. For some, a decision in this regard will only be made after the next holidays.

For Leonhard Palm, organic farmer from Uedorf and chairman of the Bornheim Asparagus Growers Association, it is already clear that 2022 will be a difficult year for him and his colleagues. For a final assessment, however, the end of the season on St. John's Day, 24 June, has to be awaited. So far, he is satisfied with the sales, quality and yield of the vegetables. For ten Euro a kilo in the premium segment, Palm has no problem selling the vegetables, even though sales in the farm shop, at the Bonn market and in the organic food shop "were very slow at times".

He can understand why some of his colleagues have already shut down part of their fields due to lack of demand. He wants to wait for Ascension Day and Whitsun, but he will probably not shut down any fields. "Appetite usually increases again at the end of the season," he says.

At Karlheinz Mandt's colleague in Alfter, the green and white sticks go from 2.50 Euro to 9.50 Euro a kilo over the counter, depending on the quality, and are thus one euro more expensive than in 2021. This is to absorb at least part of the wage and energy costs, explained junior manager Markus Mandt. Customers still buy from the farm shop, so the senior boss can be decidedly satisfied - even if he is concerned about rising operating costs and the conversion of the farm to a certified organic farm "brings in less money on balance with lower yields and higher production costs".

The 59-year-old and his son will continue to harvest the vegetables with their seasonal workers until Whitsun, when they will decide whether to shut down half a hectare for the last few weeks. The junior is thinking of the 0.8 hectares of the young plant - it was only established in 2019 - which could be taken out of production. This could also save the plants for the coming season.

Customers also have to pay one euro more at the Steiger vegetable farm. While the first bunches from the mini-tunnels went on sale for 9.90 Euro, "the price could not be maintained and went down pretty quickly," senior manager Karlheinz Steiger made clear. 100 to 150 kilos of very good asparagus are harvested daily and sold exclusively in the farm shop this year.

"We used to sell to the supermarkets as well, but this year we are just about managing," says the 69-year-old, who passed the farm on to his daughter Margarethe Ribbecke years ago. Since the beginning of May, customers in Waldorf have been paying between four Euro and 7.90 Euro, a little more than last year - "because of the galloping energy costs and increased wage costs", Steiger explained. Despite the good demand, however, it could be, according to the pensioner, that production will stop a week earlier, because "we also started harvesting in the mini-tunnels 14 days earlier“.

"People have the expectation that everything will be more expensive. But that's not true," says Johannes Saß from the asparagus farm of the same name in Uedorf. In his farm shop, the lower price segment is ten Euro per kilo, which is even two Euro cheaper than last year. Customers have remained loyal to the 40-year-old farmer, even though the premium quality is 14 Euro. The customers appreciate that, "we haven't lost any buyers".

Klaus Langen describes the quality of his vegetables as "Olympic quality". However, he feels that the economic component of production is not outstanding at all. Despite the high quality, the farmer from Bornheim, who has his main farm in Kerpen, sells the stalks for between 4.90 and 7.50 Euro, depending on the quality. This year's starting price of 8.90 Euro or 14.90 Euro could not be maintained. For him, this is an incomprehensible price collapse.

"Against the trend of inflation, the sale is simply too cheap. The prices are in the cellar," said the 54-year-old. He put the loss of revenue at 40 per cent. "The cost-income ratio is no longer right, especially since wages have been raised. This is at the expense of the family," Langen fears. He harvests 500 to 600 kilos a day in Bornheim. But if the price of asparagus continues to fall, he will shut down five of the ten hectares. "At some point it won't pay off any more."