5 JÜRG STEINER The village of Lohnstorf is barely a half-hour drive from the Federal Palace in Berne, but its surroundings are distinctly rural. On a clear day, you can see the iconic Eiger, Mönch and Jungfrau mountains in the distance rising up majestically over a flat plain of neatly arranged arable fields. Lohnstorf is situated in the fertile Gürbe Valley, which is known throughout Switzerland for intensive cabbage farming, hence its nickname “Chabisland” (cabbage land). Urs Haslebacher stands on the balcony of his farmhouse, which lies on the edge of the valley overlooking Lohnstorf. The route up to his farm is steep and winding. Haslebacher and his family run a large pig farm. They have around 3,000 pigs and employ 15 people. He has purchased a second farm on the valley floor and also rents out apartments in various buildings that he owns. Haslebacher is also involved in local politics, representing the SVP. In 2023, he became the mayor of Thurnen, the municipality that encompasses Lohnstorf. Haslebacher radiates the energy of an entrepreneur who finds opportunity wherever he looks. And sees problems as a challenge. A new responsibility was added to his varied to-do list earlier this year – when he started organising a series of farmers’ protests. Money pressures Swiss farmers took to their tractors in their hundreds in February and March. On weekday evenings or at weekends, they would chug along to pre-arranged meeting points in fields, Haslebacher spent a lot of time on messaging apps coordinating protest rallies in his home patch, the canton of Berne. Unlike the demonstrations in France and Germany, none of the actions escalated in Switzerland. Time and again, Haslebacher reminded his colleagues that they should not block the traffic with their tractors. There are no protests at the moment, because farmers are out in their fields in summer. Caught in the middle Haslebacher is not one to moan. Neither is he hard up. And yet he knows from personal experience that there is a fundamental disconnect between economic reality and what society expects from its farmers. This explains why people like him have also decided to protest. He gives us an example. Over 20 years ago, the federal government wanted farmers like Haslebacher to prioritise the well-being of their pigs by building pens with outdoor space. They gave him money for this purpose. The idea was that supermarkets would pay him an extra Swiss franc per kilo for the pork. He made the investment in good faith. But because the outdoor rearing systems for pigs are associated with higher ammonia emissions, Haslebacher soon attracted criticism from environmentalists. And before he had paid off the investment, the additional franc per kilo had been whittled down to a few centimes. Consumers are often oblivious to these problems. “I am not blaming anyone,” says Haslebacher, “but how can we plan for the future if the people vote “If the people vote for green initiatives at the weekend but buy cheap imported meat during the week, we farmers are the ones who lose out.” Urs Haslebacher organised farmers’ protests. Photo: Keystone park in formation and vent their feelings. With consumers unable to wean themselves off cheap imports, farmers say that their income is being squeezed. And that they are drowning in regulation. They feel underappreciated. The Swiss Farmers’ Union (SFU) put this deep sense of frustration into words, quickly collecting 65,000 signatures in a petition to the Federal Council and retailers Coop, Migros, Aldi and Lidl. Farmers have a lot to worry about. There used to be 250,000 farms in Switzerland. Now there are 48,000. An average of ten farms are going out of business every week. Money pressures are real for Switzerland’s 150,000 or so remaining farmers. Swiss Review / July 2024 / No.4 Frustrated heavy labourers: farmers demonstrating during the spring of 2024 in a field in Uster (ZH). Photo: Keystone
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