The plight of agriculture: causes and protest

The farmers in Switzerland and Europe are right to be angry.

They are under enormous economic pressure while simultaneously facing growing demands. The root cause of this plight, however, lies not in new environmental regulations, but in decades of misguided agricultural policy. What gives cause for hope is that protests are now also emerging against those who profit from the current agricultural system.

In Switzerland and across Europe, agriculture is under enormous pressure: intense price pressure, ever-increasing administrative burdens, and mounting contradictory demands from politicians and society are taking a growing toll on farms. Despair over these grievances is turning into anger and driving farmers onto the streets. The frustration and anger of farmers are understandable. But contrary to what is often claimed, the root cause of this plight does not lie in new environmental regulations. On the contrary: these are urgently needed if we are to preserve our natural resources and secure food production for the future.

Industrial agriculture is reaching its limits

The root cause of these problems in our agricultural and food system lies in decades of misguided agricultural policy. Swiss and European agricultural policy has long known only one direction: ever larger, ever more intensive, ever greater production. In recent years, however, it has become increasingly clear that this model of industrial agriculture leads to a dead end. The negative consequences of intensive production are becoming ever more palpable: nitrogen surpluses from large quantities of mineral fertilisers and high livestock numbers are contaminating groundwater and drinking water. The loss of species due to the destruction of habitats and the pollution of remaining ecosystems with pesticides and nitrates has reached alarming proportions.

"Grow or go": the escalation upwards

The ever-declining producer prices paid by retailers and the processing industry for agricultural goods are leading to an ever-increasing intensification of production. This is associated with long-term investments in capital-intensive means of production such as more land, new barns, or larger machinery. Smaller farms that cannot keep pace with this upward escalation are forced to close their doors and abandon their operations. Agricultural enterprises are under economic pressure and have their backs against the wall.

Profits flow into the fat belt of agriculture

The beneficiaries of this misguided agricultural policy are the retailers and the processing industry, who continue to drive down producer prices for agricultural goods while themselves reaping princely margins. And of course the agribusiness corporations profit from this development, because the more intensive the production, the greater the profits they derive from the trade in fertilizers, animal feed, pesticides, and agricultural machinery.

Agricultural policy in the interests of corporations

This misguided agricultural policy is ultimately also supported and promoted by farmers' associations and the many “farmers'” politicians. While they like to claim that they stand up for the concerns of farmers, their entanglement and collusion with agribusiness corporations, processors, and retailers is all too obvious. Thus, the roughly forty members of the “Conference of Farmers' Parliamentarians” organized by the Swiss Farmers' Union hold more than 200 mandates on the boards of directors, executive committees, and management boards of retailers, processors, agribusiness corporations, and associations in these sectors.

Protests must address the profiteers

This entanglement of «agricultural» associations and politicians with large corporations is not a Swiss phenomenon but applies across Europe. That ever more farmers are no longer willing to be harnessed to the corporations’ cart is demonstrated by the protests of the «Wir haben es satt» alliance in Germany and the «Révolte agricole Suisse» movement of farmers in western Switzerland. Confronted with the same economic problems, they turn their gaze toward the underlying causes and direct their protest at those who profit from current agricultural policy. This commitment gives hope that change is possible, and this protest therefore deserves our support.

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