More than 13,000 signatures against the death of farms
The Association of Small Farmers donated a petition in Bern on Monday called “Every farm counts”, currently counting 13,367 signatures.
Diversified and small-scale agriculture is nevertheless crucial for biodiversity and the fight against climate change. (Illustrative photo)
KEYSTONE/EPA/TANNEN MAURY
The Federal Council must take measures against the death of peasant farms and strengthen diversified agriculture. The Association of Small Farmers filed a petition to this effect on Monday in Bern entitled “Each farm counts”, with 13,367 signatures.
Over the past 40 years, the number of farms has more than halved in Switzerland, reaching a low of 48,864 farms in 2021, notes the Association of Small Farmers.
Yet diverse, small-scale agriculture is crucial for biodiversity and the fight against climate change, she writes. Above all, such agriculture is more resistant to crises, and therefore important for the security of supply.
transmission problem
However, the farms that remain are increasingly large and specialized. Many well-educated farmers, who cannot take over a farm within the family, also find no farm.
The situation is expected to worsen further over the next fifteen years. Half of the farm managers will indeed reach retirement age by then, and will be forced to pass on their farm, or cease its activity and dismantle it.
For better access to land
The association and its partner organizations, such as Uniterre or Demeter, therefore ask the Federal Council for measures that support the diversity of agricultural structures and the conservation of farms beyond the change of generation.
For this, better conditions for the handing over of extra-family farms are particularly necessary, and basically better access to land. Small farms should also no longer be disadvantaged and forms of collective farming should be facilitated.
ATS
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