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Environment 03.09.24

In recent years, plant-based foods have come on the market as alternatives to products of animal origin. Their aim: to positively influence sustainability and health. However, do they really do this? A study conducted by Agroscope and the University of Bern examined the issue.

Agroscope, University of Bern

Environment 29.08.24

Do soils under meadows and pastures in Switzerland take up more carbon than they release, thus contributing to climate protection? According to a new study from Agroscope, they currently do not. Measures to promote carbon storage do, however, exist.

Environment 29.07.24

Future agricultural policy will aim at innovative and sustainable production systems. Using the example of agroforestry, an assessment method based on an expert survey and the literature has now been tested. The results show that agroforestry can support the transformation into a more sustainable agricultural sector.

Environment 25.07.24

What do ecological focus areas in Swiss farmland contribute? Agroscope experts summarised their impact on biodiversity and ecosystem services in a literature survey.

Environment 16.07.24

Managing farmland as an Ecological Focus Area (EFA) has a positive impact on its biodiversity. Agroscope has now investigated the effect of implementing this agri-environmental measure on non-EFAs.

Environment 18.06.24

The newly designed Swiss agri-environmental monitoring programme ‘MAUS’ aims, as far as possible, to determine environmental impacts for regions and farm types with existing data. The first MAUS report deals with the regionalised nitrogen balance.

Environment 06.06.24

Pre-emptive biological control involves the evaluation of the benefits and risks of the natural enemies of an invasive pest in advance of its arrival, allowing the swift approval and deployment of the natural enemies in an emergency.

Agroscope, Euphresco

Environment 28.05.24

Agroscope studied various categories of ecological focus areas and showed that the presence of these in connectivity projects makes a major contribution to large-scale species richness in the agricultural landscape.

Agroscope, University of Zurich, Swiss Ornithological Institute in Sempach, Hintermann & Weber AG

Environment 15.05.24

Whether grasslands are mown or grazed, fertilised or unfertilised – all this affects the ecosystem services of Swiss grasslands. These services benefit both the agricultural sector and society, e.g. in the form of livestock feed or erosion protection.

Agroscope, ETH Zurich

Environment 14.05.24

In vegetable row crops, spot spraying can save on insecticides and fungicides. Agroscope investigated the extent of this savings potential and compared the cost of spot spraying to broadcast treatments with a field sprayer.

Agroscope, SZG, FOEN Environmental technology promotion, Möri AG, VSGP, Grangeneuve, Inforama, Wyssa Gemüse

Environment 01.05.24

The advantages of grass-clover mixtures in ley farming are manifold. An Agroscope study now shows that their highly efficient use of available nitrogen also keeps the risk of nitrate leaching low.

Agroscope, ETH Zurich

Environment 19.04.24

Zosso C., Thiébaud E., Huber S., Bretscher D.

Greenhouse gas calculators can assist in identifying measures to reduce emissions on farms and in quantifying the effect these measures can have. For this to be successful, it is essential to know the scope and limitations of greenhouse gas calculators.

Agroscope, dss+, Flury&Giuliani GmbH

Environment 18.04.24

Herzog C., Meier E.S., Schneuwly J., Birrer S., Roth T., Knop E.

Switzerland’s agricultural landscape harbours a great variety of species and habitats, some of which are endangered. This study sheds light on various direct and indirect, positive and negative factors influencing biodiversity.

Agroscope, Swiss Ornithological Institute in Sempach, Hintermann & Weber AG

Environment 02.04.24

Klötzli J., Suter M., Beaumont D., Kolmanič A., Leskovšek R., Schaffner U., Storkey J., Lüscher A.

Broad-leaved dock is a problematic weed in permanent meadows and pastures. A European study led by Agroscope highlights the risk factors and recommends preventive measures.

Food 26.03.24

Balmer M.E., Schaller U., Krauss J., Geiser H.C., Poiger T.

Plant protection products contain active substances and co-formulants. Agroscope studied the residues of co-formulants on treated plants for the first time, thereby furnishing the basis for assessing risks posed to consumers.

Agroscope, Federal Food Safety and Veterinary Office (FSVO)

Environment 18.03.24

Klaus V. H., Jehle A., Richter F., Buchmann N., Knop E., Lüscher G.

Organic farming has a positive effect on plant diversity in Swiss grassland, but ecological focus areas are needed support plant diversity more broadly.

Environment 13.02.24

Gazzarin Ch., Jan P.

Grass-based beef production is markedly less productive than intensive year-round indoor-housing system-based production. Agroscope experts therefore studied how grass-based farms can produce both economically and in an ecologically sound manner.

Environment 09.02.24

Dubuis P.-H., Droz M., Melgar A., Zürcher U.A., Zarn J. A., Gindro K., König S.L.B.

Orchard crop spraying using unmanned aerial spraying systems commonly referred to as drones can lead to drift, posing a risk to residents and bystanders. The study shows that the risks arising from this are taken into account by the current registration process.

Agroscope, Federal Food Safety and Veterinary Office (FSVO)

Environment 30.01.24

Luka H., Blick T., Lenzin H., Luka Stan A., Reinbacher L., Pfifner L.

Trials conducted by FiBL have shown that conversion to organic farming also promotes endangered Red List species such as the carabid beetle species Amara tricuspidata. This species and other species consume seeds of forbs and grasses and thus supports natural weed control.

FiBL, University of Basel

Environment 12.01.24

Nemecek Th., Roesch A., Bystricky M., Jeanneret Ph., Lansche J., Stüssi M., Gaillard G.

The SALCA life cycle assessment method was comprehensively updated in light of new needs, systematically documented and reviewed by external specialists. This will allow a wide range of research issues in the agriculture and food sector to be addressed.

Environment 19.12.23

Keel S.G., Bretscher D., Leifeld J., von Ow A., Wüst-Galley C.

Net zero emission targets can only be achieved by removing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. Agroscope has modelled soil carbon storage, food production and agricultural greenhouse gas emission trends for Switzerland.

Environment 04.12.23

Bender S.F., Schulz S., Martínez-Cuesta R., Laughlin R.J., Kublik S., Pfeiffer-Zakharova K., Vestergaard G., Hartman K., Parladé E., Römbke J., Watson C.J., Schloter M., van der Heijden M.G.A.

Nutrient losses in agricultural production are a global problem. A lysimeter test now shows that soil organisms can make a major contribution to increasing nutrient use efficiency in arable farming and reducing nutrient losses.

Environment 01.12.23

Gilgen A., Felder R., Baumgartner S., Herzog F., Jeanneret P., Séchaud R., Paunovic S., Merbold L.

Agroscope researchers tested the FAO method for assessing the agroecological status of farms in Switzerland for the first time, demonstrating the advantages of a holistic evaluation as well as the limits of the tool.

Environment 02.11.23

Zorn A., Bütler A., Mathys P.

In wheat crops, pesticides can be used more sparingly without sacrificing cost-efficiency. With oilseed rape the situation is more difficult, since the reduced yields are not offset by higher revenues. These are the findings of the analysis of the first two harvest years of the PestiRed project.

Environment 09.10.23

Metzger K., Liebisch F., Herrera J. M., Guillaume T., Walder F., Bragazza L.

Soil samples can be measured directly in the field by means of spectroscopy. Agroscope researchers have tested mobile devices and shown how to make the best use of them.

Environment 05.10.23

Johannes A., Kellermann L.A., Weisskopf P.

Three widely used and newly revised approaches that optimally complement each other are available to practitioners, trainers and educators. Videos and apps have been designed to facilitate their use.

Agroscope, BFH-HAFL

Environment 13.09.23

Nucera E., Huguenin-Elie O., Mayer J., Liebisch F., Spiess E.

Symbiotic nitrogen fixation by bacteria in the soil coexisting with legumes leads to reduced fertiliser requirement. It is not easy to measure this variable on farms, however. Now researchers from Agroscope have developed a method for estimating nitrogen input via symbiotic fixation at farm level.

Plant production 18.07.23

Calanca P., Holzkämper A., Isotta F. A.

With increasing global and regional temperatures, even in Switzerland the growing season has lengthened considerably. Using data from the Federal Office of Meteorology and Climatology, Agroscope has traced the development of the growing season since the start of the previous century.

Plant production 07.07.23

Fontana M., Elfouki S., Bragazza L., Guillaume T., Carlen C., Sinaj S.

The phosphate mineral reserves required for fertiliser production could be exhausted on a global scale in just a few decades. This study presents a method for recycling a Swiss industrial by-product into a phosphate fertiliser.

Environment 03.07.23

Prasuhn V., Hutchings C., Gilgen A., Blaser S.

To calculate erosion risk in Swiss field crops, the effect of different arable crops on the risk of erosion was determined. Calculations for the whole of Switzerland show that although erosion risk is on average low, it is not negligible everywhere.