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With IP-Suisse’s label premiums for animal-friendly meat production, farmers cannot cover their additional costs.
IP-Suisse is the most important label for animal welfare. At Spar and Denner it can be seen directly on the meat packaging. In Migros it is called Terrasuisse, in Volg Agrinatura and in Aldi Naturesuisse.
Anyone who wants to produce for the label has additional costs. The barn has to be larger, the animals need to lie on the straw rather than on slatted floors. The straw is one of the biggest costs.
Christian Gazzarin from the agricultural research center Agroscope investigated whether it is economically worthwhile to produce beef and pork for the IP-Suisse label. He gained knowledge of the accounting of 21 companies and made a detailed calculation of the total cost for the first time, comparing costs and revenues. “When a company invests in animal welfare, it generates additional income through market premiums and direct payments from the federal government. It is more difficult to determine the additional costs, for example, straw, labor and buildings. If you compare that to a production company that only meets the minimum standard according to the animal welfare ordinance, the additional costs are significantly higher than the additional revenue. ”The study clearly shows this.
More than a quarter of uncovered additional costs
The biggest hole in the farmers’ box is: according to Agroscope, they have an average of 25,822 francs in additional costs. However, the market premium and direct payments only cover just under three-quarters of these costs. 28 percent of additional expenses are not covered. For pig feeders it is 9 percent.
Stefan Flückiger from Swiss Animal Welfare criticizes this complaint. He commissioned the study to Agroscope together with IP-Suisse: “We must cover the costs of farmers and we must boost demand,” he demands. Because the demand for animal-friendly products is stagnant. Retailing and catering would have to offer a recovering hand again. “Farmers must not only be in the black, they must also make a profit.”
Martin Rufer, director of the Farmers Association, demands based on the figures: “From the point of view of agriculture, the additional costs must be paid through the market, through the producer price and the premium. We are not interested in these additional services being financed by additional direct payments. “This means that the two big Coop and Migros face a special challenge. It is up to you to increase the premiums.
Once switched to IP, there is no going back
“Kassensturz” confronts wholesalers with these facts, they comment in writing. Coop writes that they only buy pigs from IP-Suisse. And they would campaign for fair and just prices. The proportion of meat from animal-friendly farming is constantly increasing and is currently 70 percent.
Migros writes that he works closely with the producers of IP Suisse. She is the largest buyer of species-appropriate breeding farm animals. In the case of labeled cattle and pigs, the purchase quantity has only recently increased, as has the minimum premium for pigs.
Whether with higher premiums or not: farmers who have opted for the IP-Suisse stables have no other choice: “We built the stables and incurred additional costs. Now we just have to trust that it will work and that we will be adequately compensated, ”says farmer Martin Uhlmann. “Because with this stable we can no longer produce conventionally.”
