The anger is palpable. As Blick reports, farmers in the Bernese Seeland have had enough. They feel abandoned by the Federal Office for Agriculture (FOAG). Their frustration has been building for years: more and more regulations, more bans – but no alternatives. Now they are calling on the government to act.

The main reason for their discontent is the lack of effective plant protection products. The federal government has banned active substances over the years. That would be all well and good if there were alternatives, says Seeland farmer Kevin Pfister. But those don’t exist. Only a few products can be used under special permits – and these are anything but practical. Pfister had to first prove that a standard product was ineffective against flea beetles. By the time the process was completed, it was too late: «By then, half the broccoli had already been eaten. You really ask yourself: should I even bother spraying – or just plow everything under?»

Rosmarie Fischer-von Weissenfluh, a master farmer from Bern, also feels increasingly hindered in her work. «The FOAG is abandoning productive agriculture,» she tells Blick.

Over 270 plant protection products banned

The complaints aren’t unfounded. In recent years, around 70 active substances have been banned in Switzerland – that’s over 270 products suddenly no longer allowed. Alternatives? None in sight. Moreover, many new active substances already approved in the EU are stuck in Swiss approval processes – sometimes for years.

Already in 2021, farmers were concerned about the lack of tools. The industry demanded alignment with the EU to avoid supply gaps. Since then, little has changed. In fact, the situation has worsened: pests like the leafhopper Scaphoideus titanus, the brown marmorated stink bug, and the Japanese beetle continue to spread.

Food security at risk

For farmers, the situation is untenable. Their yields are severely threatened – and with them, Switzerland’s food security. The result: decreasing domestic production and increasing food imports.

This was also highlighted at the recent Swiss-Food Talk. Three producer representatives from fruit, wine, and potato farming came to the same conclusion: crop protection is no longer guaranteed. Without effective pesticides, neither sustainable nor secure food production is possible.

Grassroots movement forming

Instead of support, farmers face new obligations. One example: the digital reporting tool Digiflux. Intended to bring transparency, many perceive it as another burden. Organic farmer Stefan Krähenbühl puts it bluntly to Blick: «Instead of relieving us, the FOAG is piling on more hassle with Digiflux.» The parliament also bears responsibility: with its counterproposal to the pesticide and drinking water initiatives, it overshot the mark – even though both were clearly rejected at the ballot box with 61%. Many of the excessive measures by the authorities were made possible by this overreach. The realization that protecting the environment must go hand in hand with protecting crops – and that pesticides (including plant protection products and biocides) contribute to food safety – is still lacking among many policymakers.