Swiss farmers reject palm oil cow supplements.

The Swiss Farmers’ Association has called on members to stop feeding dairy cows supplements that contain palm oil. The revelation has embarrassed the organisation that has been fighting against palm oil imports from Asia. Swiss public television’s (SRF) Rundschau programme has revealed that some Swiss dairy farmers feed their cows palm oil supplements to boost milk production contradict efforts of the farming lobby to have palm oil imports curbed. The lobbying efforts, coordinated with environmental organisations, are designed to protect Swiss rape seed farmers from being muscled out of the market by cheaper palm oil imports. Many palm oil plantations are also highly criticised for destroying natural habitats in Asia. Demand could be difficult to put into practice. LY, farmers used some 5,000 tonnes of palm oil saturated feed. Replacing this supplement with rape seed oil products would result in an additional annual cost of CHF1 million ($1.02 million) to Swiss farmers.