Counterfeiting now also Detectable in Extra-Hard Cheeses
To protect Swiss cheeses from counterfeiting, Agroscope has developed marker cultures from lactic acid bacteria that allow the origins of the cheese to be determined. Proof-of-origin cultures for extra-hard cheeses are now also available.
Manure: How Much Nutrients Excreted by Beef Cattle?
Farms operate with a balanced nutrient cycle. Agroscope has adjusted beef-cattle reference values to the latest advances in animal production. The said values can be used for fertilisation planning and are to be used for the assessment of the farm- based nutrient cycle.
Higher Yielding, More Resistant Cultivars of Main Swiss Forage Grass
Adapted, productive grass cultivars are crucial for Swiss forage production. Over the past 30 years, the most important grass species – perennial ryegrass – has been substantially improved by breeding.
Counterfeiting now also Detectable in Extra-Hard Cheeses
To protect Swiss cheeses from counterfeiting, Agroscope has developed marker cultures from lactic acid bacteria that allow the origins of the cheese to be determined. Proof-of-origin cultures for extra-hard cheeses are now also available.
An article by Agroscope
Manure: How Much Nutrients Excreted by Beef Cattle?
Farms operate with a balanced nutrient cycle. Agroscope has adjusted beef-cattle reference values to the latest advances in animal production. The said values can be used for fertilisation planning and are to be used for the assessment of the farm- based nutrient cycle.
An article by Agroscope
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Higher Yielding, More Resistant Cultivars of Main Swiss Forage Grass
Adapted, productive grass cultivars are crucial for Swiss forage production. Over the past 30 years, the most important grass species – perennial ryegrass – has been substantially improved by breeding.
An article by Agroscope
A closer look at red clover: results of the 2016–2018 variety testing
From 2016 to 2018 inclusive, Agroscope tested 54 varieties of red clover (Trifolium pratense L.) at six locations. Of these, 25 were new varieties and 29 were already-recommended varieties that were being retested. Yield, vigour, juvenile development, resistance to leaf diseases and anthracnose, winter-hardiness and persistence were all evaluated. For the persistent “mattenklee” type, the…
Solid feed intake and weight development of suckler calves
As part of a farm survey, data on the solid feed intake and liveweight development of suckler calves from birth to the age of 305 days were collected and analysed. The data were used to derive estimation formula on weight development and solid feed intake of suckler calves in Switzerland. The analysis showed that weight…
Greenhouse gas emissions from coupled dairy-beef production in Switzerland
Coupled dairy-beef systems are of major significance in Switzerland’s cattle sector. Using Swiss reference data, the present study modelled greenhouse gas emissions per cow and year for a range of different milk and meat yield levels. The study also determined the impact on greenhouse gas emissions of using a combination of sexed semen and beef…
Diversity of beetles in oilseed rape in Changins (VD)
In order to understand the diversity of insects colonizing oilseed rape, a survey focusing on beetles was conducted in a plot of winter rape in Agroscope Changins (Prangins VD). Beetles were captured with yellow water bowls over the whole cultivation period from August 2017 to June 2018. In total, 11,856 individuals were caught from exactly…
Farmers, beekeepers and researchers unite to safeguard pollinators
Recent studies show a decline in the abundance and diversity of wild pollinators, as well as an increase in honeybee mortality. These pollinators are an integral part of biodiversity and play an essential role in the growing of certain crops and in wild plant reproduction. In the Swiss cantons of Vaud and Jura, and in…
Plastic waste flows in Swiss agriculture and their risk potential for soils
Plastic products are omnipresent in our everyday lives and are so versatile and efficient that it is difficult to imagine modern agriculture without them. However, in combination with littering and as foreign materials in digestate and compost fertilisers, they are also the main source of plastic inputs on agricultural land. Using material flow analysis, this…
Genetic diversity of Trichopria drosophilae, a natural enemy of spotted wing drosophila
Drosophila suzukii is an invasive species recently introduced in Europe and causing damages to fruit production. Trichopria drosophilae is considered one of the most suitable indigenous parasitoid to be used in biocontrol programs against D. suzukii. To characterize genetic variability and the spatial genetic structure of populations of T. drosophilae, we developed 21 species-specific molecular…
Comparison of methods for quantifying butyric acid bacteria in milk
As part of a milk processor’s annual winter campaign for monitoring the contamination of raw milk with anaerobic spores harmful to cheese – also called butyric acid spores – the analysis methods currently used in Switzerland (MPN method according to CNERNA and filtration method according to Bourgeois) are compared with a new method (SY-LAB). To…
Swiss beef tenderness survey: third 2018 campaign
The third beef tenderness survey campaign was carried out during the final trimester of 2018. One hundred sixty-eight samples of beef were purchased in retail outlets, as well as 38 pork fillets for purposes of comparison. Some of the samples were also analysed as part of the beef origin verification program set up by the…
Extent of genomic inbreeding in Swiss sheep and goat breeds
The development of modern technologies now allows thousands of genetic markers in an animal’s genome to be revealed by means of DNA genotyping. This information can be used to deduce genomic inbreeding. This is valuable for populations that have no, or only incomplete, pedigree information. Furthermore, differences in the inbreeding of full siblings can be…