Farmers from Innviertel showed solidarity with their German colleagues on Monday morning and closed the border crossing on a bridge in Braunau with tractors for half an hour. The protest was officially registered and approved. This was probably the beginning of further actions.
Accompanied by police officers, a group of farmers from Innviertel left Monday morning in a convoy with tractors from the sports hall of the Braunau district to the Inn Bridge, which marks the border crossing into Bavaria. At the same time, German farmers rolled in the opposite direction from Simbach towards the river crossing.
In the middle, both groups stopped and discussed the problems of their profession for half an hour. With banners such as ‘If the farmer dies, your food is imported’ or ‘If the farmer dies, the country dies’, they underlined their protest, which is mainly aimed at the EU’s Common Agricultural Policy (CAP).
“We have to take to the streets so that the public becomes aware of our difficult situation,” says Norbert Eibl (55), who runs a dairy farm with 200 cattle in Gilgenberg with his son. For this reason, we now show solidarity with the protests of our German colleagues. “We have reached the performance limit and would no longer be able to cover our costs if our subsidies were also cut,” says Eibl.
Produce with a clear conscience
Manfred Amerhauser of Franking agrees. Innviertel farmers are very concerned that European agriculture is becoming increasingly industrialized in the interest of maximizing profits: “Who wants genetically modified food on the table? We want to produce food with a clear conscience.”
Walter Paffinger (50) runs a part-time farm in Franking with thirty dairy cows and offspring: “It is a mess that the food sold in stores is becoming increasingly expensive, while our producer prices have already fallen to pre-Corona levels.”
Too much bureaucracy
To maintain his farm, he works full-time as a process technician at an electronics company. Paffinger is also annoyed by the increase in bureaucratic obstacles: “In 2023 I had six audits, some of which checked for the same thing.”
His colleague Norbert Eibl expects that even more local farmers will take to the streets: “That was just the beginning, because politicians are not taking our concerns seriously enough!”
Comment “Crown”.
More solidarity with the farmers
We all want to eat healthy food that is produced as environmentally and animal-friendly as possible. And all this at fair prices for producers and consumers. However, the latter usually only see the trade prices and subsidies that flow to the agricultural sector. When they hear that farmers are protesting against subsidy cuts, they often just shrug their shoulders and say, “Farmers always have something to complain about.” The frustration among farmers is now enormous, not only in Germany but also here. We must show more solidarity – also in our own interests.
Source: Krone
I am Wallace Jones, an experienced journalist. I specialize in writing for the world section of Today Times Live. With over a decade of experience, I have developed an eye for detail when it comes to reporting on local and global stories. My passion lies in uncovering the truth through my investigative skills and creating thought-provoking content that resonates with readers worldwide.
