Swiss agriculture heavily depends on government support, mainly due to the high costs of sustainable farming and the challenging regional conditions in the country.
According to the government in Bern, the reallocation is necessary to increase expenditures in other areas, such as defense, due to the changing international security situation. There are already calls to exempt elderly care, development aid, and agriculture. This creates tension between political parties and various interest groups, including farmer organizations.
Swiss farmers are furious about the budget cuts and have mobilized with protests and tractor demonstrations across different parts of the country. They point out that their purchasing power has already fallen sharply in recent years, partly due to rising costs and low market prices for agricultural products like milk.
A major objection from the farmers is that the budget cuts conflict with the goals of food security and sustainable agriculture. They criticize what they see as "wrong agricultural policy," where contradictory regulations and low prices corner them.
A petition with 65,000 signatures was handed over to the Swiss government last week demanding that the main cuts be reversed. They also want the prices of agricultural products to be better aligned with production costs.
These Swiss actions do not come out of nowhere: last year, farmers in other European countries such as Germany and France protested in dissatisfaction with national agricultural policies. At that time, it remained quiet in Swiss agricultural circles. Swiss agricultural organizations, like the Schweizer Bauernverband (SBV), have now risen up against possible cuts.
Swiss farmers even threaten to escalate their protests, including possible tractor blockades in urban areas. They call not only for the preservation of subsidies but also demand reforms that justify a fair price for their products to keep their businesses viable.