Rape Seed Production
Rape seed is the most significant oilseed produced in Switzerland. Currently, some 8,000 farmers grow rape seed on an area of 15,000 hectares, resulting in a glowing yellow landscape in springtime. The rape seed oil produced by Swiss farmers meets approximately one fifth of the national demand.
Since the new ministerial orders on Subsidies to Crop Farming came into force at the end of 1998, the limited price guarantee and the guaranteed delivery for oilseed were abolished, as of the harvest in 2000. Prices paid to producers and the amount of cultivated area will only be affected by the state through acreage subsidies for rape seed oil, border protection, and the processing subsidies for renewable raw materials.
