Why Swiss farmers dye surplus tubers for animal feed

To prevent the potatoes from being resold, the farmer has to douse them with food colouring. SRF

A bumper harvest has left Swiss farmers with more potatoes than the market can handle. Instead of ending up on dinner plates, many will be fed to cows – but only after being coloured and the farmers compensated.

In the barn of farmer Andreas Schwab in canton Bern, three large trailers are piled high with potatoes.

“It was a good potato year,” he says. Mild temperatures and well-timed rain created ideal growing conditions. “As a farmer, the first thing you’re happy about is when something turns out well.”

But the good harvest has a downside: Schwab now has tonnes of surplus potatoes. He had a contract with the Inoverde cooperative to deliver 200 tonnes, but harvested around 240 tonnes. The extra 40 tonnes will mostly go to feed his own cows and those of a colleague in the Jura region.

“That really hurts,” he admits. “But it’s the second-best solution.” The best would be for people to eat them. Yet even in a good year, Swiss plates don’t suddenly feature more rösti, chips or Gschwellti (boiled potatoes).

Farmer Andreas Schwab’s trailers are full to the brim: 2025 was a good potato year throughout Switzerland. SRF

Farmers are at least partially compensated. They receive around CHF20 ($25) per 100kg of potatoes fed to animals – less than half what they would earn through regular sales.

Potato inspectors on the job

Before any compensation is paid, the potatoes must be inspected, just as if they were destined for the market.

Hans Aeschbacher, a potato inspector working for Qualiservice, checks their quality and edible content. Standing atop one of Schwab’s trailers, he scoops out ten kilograms into a basket and examines them.

“These are excellent,” he says. Schwab’s potatoes have an edible content of 99%, meaning he receives almost full compensation – CHF20 per 100 kilograms.

A unique solidarity fund

The compensation comes from a solidarity fund. “This is a unique solution in Switzerland, if not in Europe or even worldwide,” says Niklaus Ramseyer, president of the Swiss Potato Producers Association.

Even when the potatoes end up in the feed trough, they are checked by Hans Aeschbacher. The quality determines how much compensation the farmer receives. SRF

The fund is financed by producers, processors and traders, who each contribute annually. This year, producers paid CHF0.25 per 100 kilograms of potatoes, while trading and industrial firms paid CHF0.05. The fund is managed jointly by the Swiss Potato Producers Association and the industry organisation Swisspatat. Participation is voluntary, but almost everyone contributes, says Ramseyer.

Why the potatoes are coloured

Before Schwab receives his payment, he must spray the potatoes with orange food colouring. “We require this because otherwise people would cheat,” explains inspector Aeschbacher. In the past, some farms allegedly sold compensated potatoes anyway.

Farmer Andreas Schwab applying orange dye to his leftover potatoes. SRF/Leonie Marti

Climbing onto one of the trailers, Schwab coats the good-quality potatoes in orange dye. “It’s a shame to cover them like this and feed them to animals,” he says. “But we’ve sold the good harvest. In that sense, it’s still a good potato year.”

When is money available from the fund?

Money from the fund is available in two cases: when the harvest is poor or if there are too many potatoes, as was the case this year. “The aim is to ensure that producers don’t immediately give up growing potatoes in such cases,” says Niklaus Ramseyer.

However, this compensation is not intended to make them rich; the trade should still be more attractive.

Translated from German using DeepL/amva