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A motion by the Valais Council of States Beat Rieder endangers the federal contributions for Freiberger horses.
The Valais Council of States Beat Rieder meant well when he submitted a motion to support endangered domestic livestock breeds last spring. Eringer cows, black-nosed sheep, Appenzell goats, Graubünden radiant goats and Appenzell pointed-crested chickens were to be saved from extinction through federal funding.
So far so good. However, neither the motionmaker Beat Rieder nor the national and state councilors who accepted the motion were aware of the consequences that the motion would have for the Freiberger horses.
Freiberger breeders as losers
In its response to the Rieder motion, the Federal Council stated that the total amount of these support contributions for endangered domestic livestock breeds should be retained or slightly increased at the expense of the other contributions for animal breeding. So the cake remains the same size, but it has to be divided among significantly more recipients of federal funds.
This means that the Freiberg horse breeders, who previously had a special status, will receive significantly fewer contributions in the future. The support contribution per foal is to be reduced from 500 to 245 francs. In addition, it should only be set up for those foals that have less than 12 percent foreign blood.
The breeders estimate that they will no longer receive any support from the federal government for around half of their foals. There is a new contribution for the stallions, but that by no means offsets the decline. Overall, federal contributions for the Freiberger horses will drop from the current CHF 853,000 to around CHF 320,000.
Too few foals
The Freiberg breeders see this as a threat to the future of their breed, notably the only Swiss horse breed. The federal contribution makes up about a quarter of the value of a foal. If this disappears, horse breeding will become a loss-making business and fewer and fewer foals will be bred. That puts the future of the Freiberger horses in question.
Councilor of States Beat Rieder emphasized to “Schweiz aktuell” that it was not his intention to harm the Freiberg breeders with his initiative. On the contrary, he wants more money for endangered Swiss livestock breeds. The SVP National Councilor Albert Rösti, President of the Swiss Freiberg Association, is of the same opinion. Together with other federal parliamentarians, Rösti and Rieder want to make representations to Federal Councilor Guy Parmelin next week and persuade him to increase the funding.
The consultation on this new regulation will run until the beginning of May. It is due to come into force next year.