by On Wednesday, farmers came together in Bern to protest against planned cuts to subsidies, reported RTS. Photo by Sergio Zhukov on Pexels.comBecause of the way farming is structured in Switzerland, farmers are heavily reliant on the support of tax payers to make ends meet. The federal government, which is running and projecting fiscal deficits, has come up with ways to cut spending. According to the government, the cuts are spread across the board, which includes savings on the amounts it spends supporting farmers. The government plans to cut several hundreds of million francs from farm subsidies from 2025 to 2029. However, the Swiss Farmers’ Union and other groups representing farmers argue that the agricultural sector is not responsible for the fiscal deficits and should
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On Wednesday, farmers came together in Bern to protest against planned cuts to subsidies, reported RTS.
Because of the way farming is structured in Switzerland, farmers are heavily reliant on the support of tax payers to make ends meet.
The federal government, which is running and projecting fiscal deficits, has come up with ways to cut spending. According to the government, the cuts are spread across the board, which includes savings on the amounts it spends supporting farmers. The government plans to cut several hundreds of million francs from farm subsidies from 2025 to 2029.
However, the Swiss Farmers’ Union and other groups representing farmers argue that the agricultural sector is not responsible for the fiscal deficits and should therefore not be hit by the savings measures. Reducing financial support for farmers will hurt an already vulnerable sector, argues the union.
Farming unions say that farming is one of the worst paid sectors in Switzerland, with wages equivalent to CHF 17 per hour. Many Swiss farms are small and run by single families. With limited resources, families sometimes end up working long hours to get everything done.
Traditionally, public support for farmers has been high in Switzerland. However, a reader poll run by RTS suggests support may be waining. When asked whether the current anger expressed by farmers is justified, 58% said no and 42% said yes.
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RTS article (in French) – Take a 5 minute French test now
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