Agriculture plays only a minor role in the German economy. The sector currently contributes about 1.1% to GDP and 2.3% to employment (Figure 3.9.1). Overall the volume of farm production declined slightly over the period 1990-92 to 2002-04, with lower livestock production (–6%) but increasing crop output (+13%). The intensity of agricultural production appears to be diminishing with farm input use declining more rapidly than production. There has been a decrease over the period 1990-92 to 2002-04 in the use of inorganic nitrogen (–6%) and phosphate fertilisers (–49%), pesticides (–11%) and direct on-farm energy consumption (–20%) (Figure 3.9.2). Since German reunification in 1990, changes in the farming sectors of the Old Länder (former West Germany) and the New Länder (former East Germany) have significantly differed. In the New Länder farming contracted sharply following unification, with farm employment falling to 20% of its 1989 level by the early 1990s [1]. Old Länder farming is dominated by livestock, raising over 75% of the nation’s cattle, sheep and pigs. Farm size in the Old Länder is about 30 hectares compared to 200 hectares on average in the New Länder. By contrast in the New Länder crops dominate and farming is more capital intensive [2].