What does a possible blue-black federal government mean for agriculture? That depends on what comes out, says Upper Austria’s Chamber of Agriculture President Franz Waldenberger: “I’m optimistic that reducing bureaucracy, which is often ideologically influenced, and focusing on competitiveness should be easier in such a government constellation.” According to him, the FPÖ is fundamentally committed to agriculture, but in some animal protection issues it was not so agriculturally oriented. “It will be exciting.”
Together with Chamber Director Karl Dietachmair, Waldenberger gave an agricultural outlook for 2025 on Wednesday. “Deregulation, environmental orientation and strengthening animal husbandry” will therefore be the focus.
The subsidies for farmers in Austria (direct payments, compensation allowance, environmental program) are increasing by 3.9 percent this year to a total of 1.485 billion euros; last year they increased by 4.6 percent. This is due to the inflation-related “stimulus package” from the federal and state governments and was “urgently necessary,” says Dietachmair. The chamber is calling for ongoing inflation adjustments for the next period of the EU’s common agricultural policy from 2028.
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Source: Nachrichten
