These farmers have the solution for stinky stench

The air is cool and fresh, you can’t smell the pigs. It’s different in the summer, says Markus Kretz (46) when Blick visits the farm. When the wind blows through the valley, it brings the fragrance into the village.

Schongau is the name of the small municipality on the outskirts of Lucerne. Here Markus Kretz and Christian Muff (42) run a farm together. Kretz keeps cows, Muff takes care of pig breeding. The pigsty is just outside the village in a hamlet, a small group of houses.

Independent in and out

A good hundred sows with piglets, gilts and a boar have their home here. You can enter and exit the covered courtyard independently. The animals simply push open the door in the stable wall with their snout. At the moment they prefer to be indoors because of the cold weather.

Muff and Kretz know their pigs very well. When you enter the stable, the animals come right up to you, nibble on your clothes and let you pet them. “Sometimes I come to the finches in the barn in the evening to see if everything is okay,” says Muff.

The chance of complaints increases with newcomers

Although you rarely smell the pigs outside, the farmers would have a problem if someone from the neighborhood complained about the farm because it was bothering them. They would have to prove with expert judgment that one cannot smell their pigs excessively. According to Kretz, an impossibility.

And the village is growing, there are already new single-family homes on the upper edge. New people are coming to live here who did not grow up in agriculture. With every movement, the chance of a complaint increases.

When the complaint comes, the socket is ready

If one of these flutters into the house one day, it would be over with the spout for the pillars. All windows should be locked, doors closed. And for about 100,000 francs there should be a ventilation system. All the investments in animal welfare that have been made in recent years: for nothing.

Fortunately, the farmers get on well with their neighbors. Those who already live around the farm are rooted in agriculture. For example, Raphael Stutz (33). He is not a farmer, but is currently watching the calves from Kretz. It doesn’t bother him if he smells the pigs every now and then. “It’s part of country life.”

Many farms affected

But the danger remains. In Meggen LU a stable had to close due to a complaint. And complaints can soon arise, because hamlets are abolished nationally. Until now, Kretz and Muff’s farm stood in such a place. This special zone preserves the hamlet but prevents new neighbors and thus complaints.

But it’s not just about Kretz and Muff’s farm. Four farms would be affected in the hamlet of Niederschongau alone. There will probably be many more throughout the canton. Because Lucerne is the canton of the pigs. “Every third sow lives in Lucerne,” Kretz says.

Issue of repurposing

The end of the hamlet zone in Niederschongau threatens the peace in the neighbourhood. The area must be declared a village or agricultural area by the voters. If it is decided to create a village zone, the chance of an odor complaint increases. In the case of an agricultural zone, on the other hand, the residents are at a disadvantage – the existing buildings may be renovated, but extensions or new construction are prohibited.

“We don’t want to prevent a village zone,” says Kretz. But: «With the current rules there is only black or white. When apartments are rented or sold, more people come and with each person, there is a greater chance that someone will complain. »

Currently, one side must eventually lose. Even if it has been contractually agreed that the fragrance simply belongs, public law cannot be set aside. Conflicts are inevitable.

the compromise

Farmers want to avoid that. At Muff’s table – there are pigs here too, but only made of plastic and porcelain – they present their solution: “It needs a scent overlay zone,” explains Kretz, who is also president of the Lucerne Farmers’ Association, spreading plans and tables.

His idea is based on the noise overload zones: if someone builds near a highway or similar noise sources that were already there, he has to accept the noise. “We also want to introduce that in the environmental legislation for odors,” says Kretz. Then the community could develop further and still protect the livestock farms.

hope for politics

Animal rights activists and farmers don’t always have the best relationship with each other, but they do agree on this. Animal in Law Foundation complains: Animal welfare is nowadays “completely omitted” in the Environmental Management Act.

Kretz’ idea reached Bern: Lucerne National Councilor Leo Müller (64, FDP) submitted a proposal to the Grand Chamber, State Councilor Jakob Stark (64, SVP) at Stöckli. Now farmers, residents and the Säuli hope for politics.