WHEN German farmers get hot under the collar they take to the streets with tractors, just like their French cousins.

Germany's top farm leader Udo Hemmerling spoke with DAVID McKENZIE about passion and protests. Udo Hemmerling is a mild-mannered man, but like the German farmers he leads, he can quickly get passionate about an issue.

The president of the German Farmers' Federation says his members are more than prepared to take to the streets to protest against government policies they see as anti-farmer.

"Last year, for example, farmers drove tractors through Berlin in protest against diesel tax, which is the highest in Europe," Mr Hemmerling said.

"We try to influence government behind closed doors, but we also go out in the streets when necessary. We do both things."

Mr Hemmerling, who was in Victoria last week, said there were big challenges facing German agriculture, including the scrapping of domestic milk quotas in 2015, the move away from production and price-based support payments and the push towards global trade liberalisation.

He said some German farmers were finding it hard, but a majority accepted they had to adjust to the new realities.

"They know it's a time of decision, to think of changing what they do," Mr Hemmerling said.

But Mr Hemmerling acknowledged German farmers still enjoyed substantial support through a "decoupled" single payment, not linked to price or production.

Instead it was based on factors such as environmental and animal-welfare performance, he said.

"We have a view that we need to cultivate land even if it's not profitable, to keep the land looking good," he said.

"It's a cultural thing. Agriculture is a way of life for us, not just production."

There are about 330,000 farms in Germany, including about 100,000 dairy farms and 50,000-60,000 pig producers. Grain comes next - mainly wheat, barley and canola - then fruit and vegetables and only a small beef sector.

"And of course we have to keep our animals in stables during the winter and feed them directly, rather than have them grazing all year round, which means much bigger investments than here in Australia," Mr Hemmerling said.

European farmers were fearful that Australian farmers could compete globally without constraints, he said.

"But having seen some of your farms this week, I now see that you too have challenges, particularly the water."

Farm politics in Germany also has a different hue.

The German Farmers' Federation boasts about 85-90 per cent coverage of family farms which dominate the country's west and about 50-60 per cent in the east, where large former state-owned farms still hold sway.

Farmers join one of 18 regional groups, which in turn are represented on a GFF presidential board that meets 10 times a year.

"We have a split role. We get information to our people on what's happening in politics, while also getting farmers' views across to government," Mr Hemmerling said.

Mr Hemmerling said on-farm biogas produced from animal manure was a key focus for German farmers, with massive government premiums paid for electricity from this source.

Ethanol and bio-diesel production depended solely on mandated fuel-content ratios after earlier tax breaks were scrapped and had to contend with strong public opposition from Germany's churches.

"They say it is immoral to use grain to produce fuel rather than food," Mr Hemmerling said.

He said the GFF was against the big push in the EU for "carbon footprint" labelling.

"It is too difficult to get accurate information for consumers," he said.

"We believe it's more important to look at the production side, for example to look at ways of reducing the level of emissions per litre of milk."