No solution in sight

This is why our farmers are so upset

Origin labeling for food is at the top of the list of demands of the protesting farmers.(Bild: Dostal Harald)

Hundreds of farmers recently drove up in their tractors and protested during the Agriculture Minister's visit to Upper Austria. They are upset - because of issues that divide the ÖVP and the Greens. The turquoise-green federal coalition will therefore no longer be able to appease the farmers.

They arrived with around 400 tractors to give Agriculture Minister Norbert Totschnig a piece of their mind. As reported, hundreds of farmers demonstrated on Friday during the ÖVP politician's visit to Pöndorf. The ÖVP in particular, whose clientele they traditionally are, has a difficult time with farmers. "The last vote in the National Council, in which the ÖVP once again voted against the mandatory designation of origin for food, was the last straw!", says demo organizer Martina Mittermayr from the Agrar Gemeinschaft Österreich.

Greens in favor of origin labeling
Landlords should have to state where their schnitzel comes from - this is the simplified demand that is dividing the partners in the federal coalition. The Greens are joining the protest of farmers here, including in Upper Austria. In the state parliament, they recently requested that the state government lobby the federal government for mandatory origin labeling on food in the food service sector - at least for meat, milk and eggs. "After all, according to the WWF, we eat two thirds of the meat we consume outside the home," says Rudi Hemetsberger, a Green member of the state parliament.

Tug-of-war over the end of full-splitting
Another issue that is upsetting farmers and dividing the turquoise-green coalition is the fully slatted floors in pigsties. After the Constitutional Court recently overturned the long transitional period to phase out such floors by 2039, Animal Welfare Minister Johannes Rauch (Greens) is calling for an end to fully slatted floors by 2030. For Upper Austria's Agriculture Minister Michaela Langer-Weninger (ÖVP), this is unthinkable: "Such a radical change will fuel the demise of farms in the pig industry."

Four out of ten pig farmers come from Upper Austria
Upper Austria is particularly affected here, as the 4,900 pig farmers here make up 40 percent of the nationwide industry. The number of pig farms in Upper Austria has already almost halved since 2010, when there were 9340.

Provincial councillor fears price increases
The ÖVP politician also fears "painful" consequences for consumers as a result of the change in pig farming. She expects a price increase of 30 percent, as the production costs per kilogram of animal welfare meat alone amount to 60 cents more. However, she points out that demand for this has recently declined: according to a rough market estimate, only 30 percent of consumers are receptive to this segment.