Subsidies

The compensation for ecological and animal-friendly services rewards farmers for services that are not remunerated by the market and are demanded by society. New habitats are to be created for plants and animals in the agriculturally used area. The networking of habitats is to be achieved in the long term.

Free places on the Alps in Liechtenstein as well as the Liechtenstein foreign Alps in Vorarlberg

Liechtensteiner Alpbetriebe: contact details and free places

The state promotes the management of alps located in Liechtenstein or Liechtenstein's own alps abroad.

The subsidies for the management of alps are paid in the form of a contribution to the costs of alpine pastures. This is composed of:

• a basic contribution according to the established livestock stocking rate and
• a surcharge for care expenses and maintenance

For the basic contribution, fixed rates apply per LSU of pastured animals. The surcharge is calculated according to the actual expenses incurred for weed control, pasture clearance, maintenance of buildings and facilities, manure management and rotational grazing.

The subsidy payments for management are paid to the owner of the alpine pasture.

Basic paper on the situation of the Liechtenstein Alps in Voralberg

The Ministry of the Interior, Education and the Environment continued on 29 October 2018 on the topic
"Promotion of the Liechtenstein Alps in Vorarlberg", a working group consisting of
one owner representative of Liechtenstein's own alps in Vorarlberg and one representative
of the Office for the Environment. The task of the working group was to establish the basis for a political
decision regarding the future design of the alpine pastures in Vorarlberg Decision with regard to the future design of agricultural policy subsidies
to work up. Although the FL Alps in Vorarlberg are very heterogeneous
in many aspects are, these Alps are summarized in the present report .

With the fulfillment of the general requirements according to the Agricultural Definitions and Recognition Ordinance (LBAV), the farm receives the farm recognition and is thus eligible to receive government benefits according to the Agriculture Act.

As part of the recognition process, farms are checked for the following:

• The farmer is a Liechtenstein citizen, a national of another state party to the Agreement on the European Economic Area, or of a country where a reciprocal right exists;
• The cultivator has an education as a farmer with a federal certificate of proficiency or an equivalent professional education;
• The cultivator has not reached the ordinary AHV retirement age;
• The cultivator is actually and managerially active in the agricultural business;
• It is a soil cultivating agricultural enterprise with operating center in Liechtenstein;
• The farm is privately owned and under the leadership of the manager, agricultural goods are produced for his own account and at his own risk;
• The principles of Good Agricultural Practice (GLP) and the guidelines of the Ecological Performance Certificate (ÖLN) are observed;
• A farm accounting system is maintained;
• A minimum labor requirement per year in agriculture is given;

Errigation systems and drainages in the agricultural zone must be approved by the Office of the Environment, Department of Agriculture, before they are implemented, regardless of whether they receive government funding (LWG Art. 30a).

The state subsidizes the following buildings, facilities and measures for soil improvements:

• Drainage
• Recultivation, with the exception of landfills with riprap sludge and excavation of excavation pits
• Drainage facilities, to the extent that they are permanently installed
• Pump stations

Income contributions are an important agricultural policy measure that serve to secure the income of Liechtenstein's recognized soil farming enterprises.  

The following types of contributions exist:

• Operating contribution:
  - Basic contribution
  - Contribution for crop production (receive farms with more than 3 ha LN)
  - Contribution for animal husbandry (receive farms with more than 5 LSU)
  - Area contribution per ha up to a maximum of 15 ha
• Additional contribution for mountain farms
• Additional contribution for selected arable crops
• Additional contribution for roughage consuming livestock
• Additional contribution for alpine grazing of roughage consuming livestock

With animal husbandry according to the BTS or RAUS program, significantly higher requirements must be met with regard to animal welfare than with animal husbandry according to animal welfare legislation. This requires corresponding additional services on the part of the farmers. Participation in these programs is voluntary.

Raising journal RAUS

The state promotes infrastructures of Alps taking into account the interests of environmental, nature and landscape protection.

Support services are granted for:

• the construction, rehabilitation or expansion of buildings and facilities
• the construction and rehabilitation of trails, drainages, and water supplies
• pasture improvements

Support payments are made to the owner of the alpine pasture.

Funding benefits for infrastructure are directed by the following ordinances:

• for alps within the BGS perimeter, according to the Ordinance on the Preservation and Development of the Mountain Area
• for Alps outside the BGS perimeter and Liechtenstein Alps in Vorarlberg, according to the Alpine Infrastructure Promotion Ordinance (AIFV)

The aim of promoting infrastructure for farms, is to create and maintain family farms with a promising future and to promote ecological, sustainable farming and animal-friendly livestock management.

Subsidies are provided for the construction, renovation, or expansion of farm buildings or facilities, including farm equipment and access. Subsidized buildings and facilities must be designed, planned and executed in accordance with the provisions of spatial planning, construction, animal welfare and environmental protection legislation.

Type and amount of funding:

• Participation in the investment costs in the amount of 40% of eligible costs;
• Takeover of interest on third-party funds in the amount of 50% of the eligible costs, up to a maximum of CHF 550,000;
• Lump-sum surcharge for BTS stables;

Application funding infrastructures farms 

New farm location

If the application is for agricultural buildings or facilities at a new farm site, the site must be determined by the municipality and approved by the government. In addition to the criteria according to Art. 25 para. 3 of the Agriculture Act (LWG), the structural and succession situations of surrounding farms in particular must also be taken into account in the case of new farm locations.

The cultivation of mountainous areas, slopes and marginal lands requires increased labor input by farmers. The yield from the fodder obtained is usually less than the invested effort of man and machine. The cultivation of these areas serves above all to preserve a cultural landscape that has been created over the past centuries. The slowly grown cultural landscape, created without the use of larger technical aids, led to a mosaic of diverse habitats, which must be preserved.

The state therefore promotes the management of areas that are in the public interest. The manager receives a contribution if he mows the area at least once a year and the cuttings are removed.

Promotion to facilitate entry into agriculture

The subsidy is granted as a one-time start-up aid in the form of an interest-free loan. Repayment of the loan is to be made in equal annual amortization installments over a ten-year period.

Funding requirements:

• Recognized farm
• 36th year of age not yet completed
• Certificate of proficiency as a farmer

Application facilitating entry into agriculture

Facilitating Agricultural Exit

In the spirit of socially compatible development, subsidy payments can be made to facilitate the exit from agriculture if an exit from agriculture is necessary for social and economic reasons, in particular due to a lack of farm succession, or if a case of hardship exists.