Around 450 tractors

Thousands of farmers protest during minister’s visit

Around 450 tractors and several thousand farmers were waiting for the Minister of Agriculture(Bild: Harald Dostal)

Thousands of farmers gathered at a company in the Hausruckviertel on Friday afternoon on the occasion of a visit by Agriculture Minister Norbert Totschnig to draw attention to the grievances in agriculture. According to the police, there were around 450 tractors on site, some of which had even traveled from Carinthia.

Tractors as far as the eye can see: several thousand farmers from all over Austria responded to a call from the Agrargemeinschaft für Österreich (AGÖ) and marched to the Lasco company site near Frankenmarkt on Friday afternoon with their working machines to welcome Agriculture Minister Norbert Totschnig (ÖVP). 

Barrel overflowed
"Austrian farmers are standing up for the first time because we are no longer satisfied with agricultural policy," said AGÖ spokesperson Martina Mittermayr. The last vote in the National Council, where the ÖVP once again voted against the mandatory designation of origin, was the straw that broke the camel's back!"

Siegfried Salchenegger, Martina Mittermayr, Simon Holzmüller and Johann Konrad from the Agrargemeinschaft für Österreich presented the Minister with this plaque with their demands.(Bild: Harald Dostal)

Three demands
"We want to put our three demands to the Minister: Firstly, comprehensive origin labeling of food. Secondly, the high domestic standards must also be applied to imported goods, not just our products! And thirdly, agricultural funds and subsidies must really go to the farmers and not be used for other things!", confirms Siegfried Salchenegger from the AGÖ.

Tractors everywhere
Tractor after tractor had been driving onto the company premises since the early afternoon, until around 450 of the heavy machines were parked on all access roads. Several thousand farmers waited with banners and posters for the arrival of the minister. 

Hardly appeased
Norbert Totschnig tried to appease the angry farmers and reiterated his willingness to engage in dialog, but was met with whistles and heckling and was sometimes drowned out by angry boos. In the end, he agreed to hold talks in the company building. Although the crowd was noticeably disgruntled, they behaved in a civilized manner - the numerous police officers did not have to intervene.