Farmers reap higher incomes
Swiss farmers earned considerably more last year than in 2006 thanks to better harvests and rising food prices.
According to figures presented on Thursday by the Agroscope federal research centre, average earnings per worker increased by 14 per cent to about SFr3,300 ($2,983) a month or roughly SFr39,500 a year.
Average annual income per farm rose by 16 per cent to SFr61,100.
But the Swiss Farmers Association cautioned that good years can be followed by bad years. It added that farmers will need more good years to catch up with incomes earned in other economic sectors.
High fuel prices and increasing costs for fertilisers threaten to eat into earnings for 2008, the association warned.
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