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A majority of the “dialogue” community finds the farmers’ anger unjustified. Nevertheless, there is also a lot of criticism of politics and economics.
For months, farmers across Europe have been protesting for fairer pay, fairer prices and fewer requirements, but also for more recognition of their work. Now the EU Commission has already relaxed an environmental requirement for them. While many people can understand the anger of the farmers, some also criticize the protests, as in Switzerland, for example, the power of agriculture in politics is already very strong.
This divided opinion is also reflected on the SRG platform “dialog”. 41 percent of users there currently say that the farmers’ anger is justified, 59 percent cannot understand the displeasure.
“The visible and noticeable extinction of species is due to over-management; people are not working with nature, but against it. New, sustainable cultivation strategies must be developed,” writes the user with the pseudonym “Enchantez Curieux,” for example. “The multinationals are of course doing everything they can to deny this – after all, their coffers are clinking with every herbicide and pesticide.”
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User “Mitdenker Democrat” also writes that he cannot understand the anger in any way. “No profession in Switzerland is even remotely as pampered or as over-represented in politics as the farming community. While all other areas have to constantly make savings, in agriculture, people are paying and being compensated more and more, which is completely incomprehensible.”
However, it is important for most debaters not to view agriculture as a uniform economic sector: “Are we talking about small mountain farmers or large agricultural entrepreneurs like those represented in the Federal Council? And the dairy farmer who sells his production to a dairy does not receive anywhere near the same price as the one who sells it to the industry,” writes user “Orateur Curieux” from French-speaking Switzerland. From Ticino, user “Dario Giandeini” adds: “Swiss agriculture is very diverse, and one should first differentiate between arable farming and livestock farming, then between peripheral, mountain and high mountain regions and finally between intensive and extensive (also organic) agriculture.”
But even beyond these distinctions, there is general criticism from users who can understand the farmers’ anger. On the market and politics: “Farmers are being suffocated by the yields that are forced on them by the large retail chains and by standards that have been created by agro-industrialists who have never set foot on a beet field,” writes user “Contradicteur Précis”.
“Many farmers have major problems because of the liberalized market. In addition, the pricing power lies with the large distributors. In return, the farmers receive subsidies from the state, but sales prices and subsidies are no longer sufficient for smaller businesses,” says user “Alan Busch”. And: “The Federal Office of Agriculture with its forms and controls is not making the situation any better,” adds user “Intervenant Éclairé”.
What do you mean? Join the discussion on the SRG platform “dialog”!