The Federal Government is now getting the most comprehensive relief package of the Second Republic off the ground. The eco-social tax reform with a total volume of 18 billion euros includes numerous measures to reduce the burden on our farmers.
A study of the market research institute KeyQUEST has shown that the Austrian population considers agriculture to be very positive. The majority of those interviewed is convinced that agriculture is essential for the society and will remain so also in future.
Many people think of farmers above all as men. However, this understanding does not correspond to reality: More than one out of three farms in Austria is managed by a farm woman. Women play a much greater role in agriculture than many people think.
On 9 January 2019, the new digital agricultural soil map and its applications were presented in great detail in the Gobelinsaal of the Ministry for Sustainability and Tourism and the Austrian Research Centre for Forests. Interest in the event and thus the use of the new map was very high, not only among people from the agricultural sector. The hall was filled to the last seat.
Sustainable agriculture and forestry need healthy soils. Soils provide the basis for food and biomass production, they filter the groundwater, store water, nutrients and carbons, and offer habitats to numerous organisms. However, soils are also a basis for work, living, leisure time, food supply or clean drinking water.
One third of the greenhouse gas emissions produced in Austria come from the transport sector. All the more important is it to develop alternative fuels. The petrol “E10” has great potential to become part of the solution in the move towards a more climate-friendly transportation system The Federal Government now wants to push the blending of ethanol into conventional fuels.
