Key facts
Article 104 of the Federal Constitution delegates a multifunctional performance mandate to the Swiss agricultural industry. High levels of public spending are channelled into delivering the neces-sary services provided in the public interest. One of the instruments employed for this takes the form of direct payments made to farmers “as fair compensation for services rendered”. In accor-dance with the provisions of Article 5 of the Agriculture Act, steps must also be taken to ensure that “sustainably managed and economically productive farms are in a position to earn an average in-come over several years that is comparable with the income of the rest of the working population in that region”. Certain modalities for measuring and comparing income are described in the Sustain-ability Ordinance.