Avenir Suisse: “Many farmers are doing well”
Published: Saturday, Mar 16th 2024, 11:50
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According to the liberal think tank Avenir Suisse, the situation of farmers in Switzerland is better than the farmer protests suggested. "Many farmers are doing very well," Avenir Suisse economist Patrick Dümmler told the Tamedia newspapers on Saturday.
"The protest leaders paint a picture of poor farming families. But that is only part of the reality," said Dümmler. The total income per farm reached over 111,000 francs in 2021 - an all-time high. "Farmers have fared very well over the last ten or fifteen years. I do wonder why exactly they are protesting now."
The farmers' lobby is concealing the fact that there are fewer and fewer subsidy recipients due to the "death of farms". This leaves more per farm. Incomes have risen by a third on average since 2015 - five times more than was the case for households outside of agriculture, said Dümmler.
The agricultural expert saw parallels with the referendum campaign on the 13th AHV pension. The left-wing side had put the spotlight on those pensioners who were actually not doing well and concealed the fact that the majority of pensioners had never been as well off as they are today.
However, farmers are unsettled because they do not know what the future holds for agricultural policy, explained Dümmler. They wanted to fend off financial cuts and maintain structures. Dümmler expected politicians to reform the "bureaucratic and protectionist" agricultural policy, which should allow for more market economy and innovation. He welcomed the Federal Council's savings plans and saw potential in environmentally harmful subsidies, for example.
Over the past few weeks, hundreds of farmers in Switzerland have driven up with tractors in numerous places to protest for better working conditions. The rallies were preceded by demonstrations by farmers in other European countries.
©Keystone/SDA
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