How Resilient is Swiss Summer Farming?

Agroscope and the BFH-HAFL investigated the resilience of summer farms. Although the farms were resilient as far as cheese production was concerned, they were less so in terms of landscape management and labour retention. Innovations and improved labour conditions could help remedy the situation.

The study was conducted by means of an interdisciplinary research approach, drawing on findings from agronomy, ecology, economics and sociology, as well as livestock and food sciences.

Swiss summer farms under pressure

The number of summer farms has declined by 11% since 2003. Today, fewer but larger summer farms support the system and focus increasingly on suckler-cow husbandry. Summer farms also have difficulty in finding and retaining staff. Although cheese production has increased slightly and livestock numbers have remained stable due to direct payments, landscape maintenance and pasture use have decreased. The result is shrub encroachment or forest regrowth on 10% of the land – a consequence of the reduced use of marginal land. Climate-related water scarcity and wolf predation create additional challenges.

Flexibility of Direct Payment system and innovations needed

The current Direct Payment system does not consider changes in plant growth caused by climate change. In good years, fixed stocking rates for livestock lead to untapped grazing potential. Flexible Direct Payment contributions based on actual grass production would allow for dynamic adaptation, and hence more resilient summer-farm management. In addition, innovative silvo-pastoral systems (such as forest grazing) and hardy livestock breeds could limit shrub encroachment. Combined with virtual fences and drones, this could decrease workload and thus retain employees for longer on summer farms.

Improving working conditions – maintaining motivation

Workers on summer farms that are employed for several years on the same farms make a decisive contribution to farm-management quality and to knowledge retention – both important factors for summer-farming resilience. To retain these employees over the long term, better recruitment and working conditions are needed – in particular, fair wages and good staff management. The promotion of partnerships with local businesses and job-sharing agreements could also strengthen the compatibility of work on the summer farm with employees’ work over the rest of the year.