Foodstuffs Confederation takes further measures due to poor bread grain harvest

Farmers have been able to harvest less bread grain in Switzerland this year than at any time for a quarter of a century. For this reason, the entire import quota for next year will be released by the beginning of February.

According to Swiss Granum, the industry organization for cereals, oilseeds and protein crops, the situation is exceptional. In terms of volume, the bread grain harvest is the worst in the past 25 years, said Swiss Granum President Stephan Scheuner a month ago. The reason for this was frequent rainfall and cool weather in the period between sowing and harvest.

The grain industry is talking about a shortfall of 60,000 tons of bread grain by the time the 2025 domestic grain harvest is over, which is why it requested higher release quantities at the beginning of the year and an increase in the 2025 tariff quota in order to meet domestic demand for grains such as wheat, rye and spelt.

The first demand has now been met: The Federal Office for Agriculture (FOAG) has set the release of 40,000 tons of the 2025 bread grain tariff quota for January 8 and 30,000 tons for February 4 by amending the Agricultural Import Ordinance, the authority announced on Thursday. This means that the ordinary tariff quota for next year has already been exhausted.

The Federal Council is expected to decide on an increase in the tariff quota at the end of January, the FOAG added. At the end of October, it increased the import quota for 2024 by 20,000 tons to 90,000 tons.

SDA