The German government will largely put an end to the sale of valuable publicly owned farmland in the former communist East Germany, and instead favour leases over sales.
Ministers from states in the former East Germany struck an agreement with the German government on the policy on Thursday, despite protests from agricultural industry groups against the freeze.
Since German reunification in 1990, forests and fields owned by the East German state have been gradually privatized through sales to farmers and investors.
Currently, about 91,000 hectares are still owned by the German government and administered by the state-owned BVVG land management firm.
The proposed freeze on further sales was pushed by Germany's current three-party coalition government, and has been in the works since 2022.
Thursday's agreement with eastern state governments details how the freeze will be implemented and sets policies for leasing and managing the publicly owned agricultural land.
"The sell-off of valuable farmland has finally come to an end," German Agriculture Minister Cem Özdemir said on Thursday in Berlin.
Environmentally-friendly sustainable farms will be given preference in leasing the land, Özdemir said, including both organic farms as well as conventional farms that meet certain criteria.
He also argued that younger farms would benefit from the policy.
"We are focusing on sustainability and promoting young talent," Özdemir said. "Anyone who contributes to biodiversity, protects the climate or keeps animals better will benefit when it comes to the allocation of land. This is how we promote sustainable and future-proof agriculture."
Agricultural lobby groups representing farmers in the former East Germany had objected to both the freeze on sales and the environmental sustainability criteria.
They also objected to German government plans to designate about 17,500 hectares as nature preserves.