Voting Approval for the Sustainability Initiative

On June 14, Switzerland will vote on the Sustainability Initiative ('No 10 Million Switzerland'). The Agriculture Chamber of the Swiss Farmers' Union (SBV) discussed this today, weighing various arguments against each other. It is undisputed that the annually growing population needs space for living, working, and infrastructure projects, thus putting pressure on the already significantly reduced agricultural areas. Furthermore, with the increase in population, dependency on foreign countries regarding food security also rises. Consequently, the self-sufficiency level steadily declines.

On the other hand, Swiss agriculture relies on foreign workers. Currently, over 50,000 non-family workers are employed on Swiss farms, with an estimated 35,000 people, or 70 percent, coming from the EU area. Terminating the free movement of persons agreement would question their availability.

Due to differing perspectives, a majority of the members of the Agriculture Chamber supported voting approval today. The second proposal of June 14 – the amendment to the Civil Service Act – also has different aspects for agriculture, which is why there was voting approval here as well.

Agricultural Ordinance Package 2026

The Agriculture Chamber further adopted the SBV's position on this year's ordinance package. A core demand is the adjustment of the method for calculating comparable income. The SBV demands that, in the ordinance on the assessment of sustainability in agriculture, the median agricultural earned income should be used with the median incomes in other sectors. The use of the third quartile – as the proposal suggests – does not present a sustainable basis for comparison. Rather, it leads to a distortion of agricultural incomes and a systematic overestimation of the economic situation of farm businesses. It also assumes that only the best 25 percent of agricultural businesses are sustainable and economically efficient. Additionally, the Agriculture Chamber demands that the hourly wage of family labor should also be used as an indicator, considering not only the income but also the labor input invested.

For inquiries:

Martin Rufer, Director SBV, Mobile 078 803 45 54

Loïc Bardet, Head of Economics, Education & International, Mobile 079 718 01 88

www.sbv-usp.ch

Editor's note: Image rights belong to the respective publisher.