Diaries of a global farmer

The picture is idyllic. Brown Swiss cows graze on lush green grass besides apple trees in full blossom, the Swiss Alps hazy in the background.

Sometimes I feel I am gazing at one of the calendars my relatives would send me in Canada. Spread along Lake Constance, at the northeastern end of Switzerland, the canton (province) of Thurgau is known for its orchards and dairy farms.

Robert and I are visiting my cousin Res, who operates the farm my family immigrated from in 1963.

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The beautiful weather has every farmer making hay. Together a couple rakes the grass from under a row of blooming apple trees. A mother spreads the drying grass, her son on the tractor seat beside her.

Haying is often a family affair. One older farmer swings the scythe to cut the grass around the trees. The tall old trees are almost all juicing or industrial apples. Most eating apples are now grown on low rows of trees pruned along wire fences, almost like grapes, with long swaths of grey gauze draped over top to prevent hail damage.

Res is transitioning out of eating apples to industrial apples, which are used for baby food and dried fruit. Even 10 years ago most farmers had both dairy and an orchard. Higher standards, new restrictions and laws for production methods have forced many to choose between investing in the dairy or the orchard business.

Res, his wife Paula and their eight children farm 50 acres together with his partner. This is about the size of the average Swiss farm, also the European Union average.

His partner milks the 28 dairy cows, for which they have an annual quota of 160,000 litres. Next April the quota system will be terminated, but no one knows what system, if any, will replace it. Fifty percent of Thurgau milk goes to family operated cheese factories. Swiss cheese is exported all over the world.

Of total Swiss farm income, 24.1 percent comes from dairy products, 9.1 percent from the orchard and vineyards, 10.5 percent from hogs, 10.4 percent from beef, and only 4.1 percent from grain.

Actually, a big percentage comes from government subsidies, without which most farmers would not be able to operate. Two billion Swiss francs (on par with Canadian dollars) go for direct payments to Swiss farmers every year. At 67,000 farms, that’s an average of almost $30,000 per farm.

The Swiss taxpayer sees the payments, linked to production regulations, as their part in ensuring healthy and happy animals and environment. The Swiss farmland is the recreational playground of the urban population — their hiking and biking trails, their picnic grounds, their parks. It’s a large part of what keeps tourists coming to Switzerland.

By fall, Res plans to have his farm operating under the organic label. I find it interesting when I go grocery shopping. Much of the food on the shelf is organic. Besides the organic dairy products, meat products and fresh produce, I find less conventional items such as mustard, muesli, flour and baking products that we would only find in specialty shops in Canada. And not at all in Africa…

Africa pursues me, even in Switzerland! I bought a bouquet of roses for a friend. The label says they are Max Havelaar roses from Eastern Africa, possibly from the greenhouses by Nakuru, Kenya, that we saw from the bus.

A part owner of a Kenyan rose farm told us that the European consumer demands fair trade roses such as the Max Havelaar brand.

The buyers have strict regulations and controls concerning employee conditions. For example, when they spray pesticides the greenhouses have to be cleared of all personnel for a certain amount of time. He felt that this was all a ploy by the Dutch flower growers to keep their market share in Europe, as it makes it more expensive for the African flower growers to produce.

I was happy to hear that the consumer can make a difference and that fair trade does positively affect the African worker.