Chamber of Agriculture President Josef Moosbrugger fears that farmers will die if economic conditions do not change. The financial pressure puts more and more farmers on edge and leads to overburdening.
Pigs wade in feces and urine. Piglets in complete darkness, without a dry place to lie: the pictures of a farm made by Bildstein were shocking. Even the farmer was sorry and realized that things couldn’t go on like this. Like so many farmers with similar incidents, he attributes the appalling conditions to overwork. The 27-year-old Bildsteiner is currently building a new stable and can therefore no longer keep up with the farm.
A problem that is not new to the chairman of the Vorarlberg Agricultural Chamber (LK), Josef Moosbrugger. “Economic pressure is increasing enormously. Companies have to produce more and more to be able to maintain their income at all.” Many would also have to diversify or pursue part-time jobs to make ends meet.
Hard to do without a family
“70 hours a week is no longer enough. Then if you don’t have a family to help, it quickly becomes unmanageable,” the top representative told the “Krone” of an increasing number of farmers who are reaching this limit.
For him, there is only one solution to the rising burden: “We need a higher share of added value and better producer prices for farmers.” The former is currently “only” 17 percent – and the trend is downward. This is incomprehensible to Moosbrugger, especially now that consumer prices have long since fallen again. “The conclusion can only be: someone earns significantly more and that’s not the farmers.”
Clear rules of the game required
His demands are plausible, even if they are not easy to implement: a clear designation of origin for all agricultural products – including processed products – and the validity of the higher Austrian standards in agriculture “for everything on our shelves”. If nothing happens, the LK president expects numerous company closures and an even greater dependence on other countries. “That would put us in the same dead end as with energy.”
According to the VGT (Association against Animal Factories), the official veterinarian inspected the pig farm in Bildstein on Wednesday and issued the first improvement orders. The young farmer awaits administrative criminal proceedings.
Source: Krone
I’m Ben Stock, a journalist and author at Today Times Live. I specialize in economic news and have been working in the news industry for over five years. My experience spans from local journalism to international business reporting. In my career I’ve had the opportunity to interview some of the world’s leading economists and financial experts, giving me an insight into global trends that is unique among journalists.
