Last but not least: Tougher competition for the farmers' calendar

 
The production of the annual farmer's calendar with the scantily clad farmer's daughters is entering its hot phase. After the application deadline has just expired, in which 250 young women have registered this year, the remaining 40 will have to undergo a further selection process on Friday, May 9. The jury, made up of National Councillors Alice Glauser and Marcel Scherer, photographer Alberto Venzago and ex-Mister Switzerland Renzo Blumenthal, will select 13 of them for the 2009 Farmers' Calendar (Girl Edition). The number 13 will be on the cover. It is no accident that two members of the Swiss National Council are on the jury. Former Federal Councillor Joseph Deiss had already given the calendar a state-preserving significance when he said that upstanding female farmers were very important for agriculture in the 21st century. The otherwise dry-cheeked Deiss may turn out to be a true cynic here, considering that every third farm in Switzerland has already closed down since 1990 due to structural adjustments, and the trend is continuing. With these prospects, we should be a bit prepared. Increased competition is the order of the day.