Swiss Farmers Protest Agricultural Policy Changes

Hundreds of Swiss farmers gather in Bern with tractors and cowbells to protest against proposed agricultural policy reforms threatening traditional farming

Key Takeaways

Around 1,000 people protested outside the Federal Office for Agriculture (FOAG).
Farmers used cowbells rather than tractors as their primary method of protest.
Demonstrators displayed a coffin containing a straw farmer.
Protesters staged a table tennis match to symbolize their political treatment.

By The Numbers

1,000

Protesters

50%

Productivity Increase Demand

20 to 30 years

Investment Horizon

They Said

"The FOAG wants us to be 50 percent more productive in the future, but it does not give us the means."
— Simon Baechler

"We have the impression of being taken for thieves, for liars, for cheats because we are continually controlled."
— Anne Chenevard

Cowbells Over Tractors: A Deafening Wake-Up Call

The Impossible Equation: Demanding More With Less

Bureaucratic Stranglehold: Treated Like 'Thieves and Liars'

The Silent Epidemic: Breaking the Taboo on Suicide

The Endgame: Securing a Future for Swiss Food

Sources & References

'No food, no future': Swiss farmers say livelihoods are threatened

The Local Switzerland