Archive
360 posts
Economic efficiency of no-tillage
“In the long-term field trial “”Oberacker”” at Zollikofen (Switzerland) crop yields were measured to determine the effect of no-tillage without any soil disturbance and conventional tillage with mouldboard plough. A cost and profit analysis (full cost accounting) was carried out with the data in order to analyse farm economy of the changeover from a conventional…
Patents, Plant Breeders' Rights and Farmers' Rights
At present, Farmers’ Rights are, in contrast to patents and plant breeders’ rights, not an operational mechanism to protect genetic resources. One of the aims of the ongoing revision of the “International Undertaking on Plant Genetic Resources” (International Undertaking) of the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) of the United Nations is the further realisation of…
Social sustainability in Swiss agriculture
Social aspects play a leading role in the sustainability concept. Therefore, the principal elements of social sustainability will be subjected to an analysis within the scope of a study of the social conditions prevailing in Swiss agriculture. The theoretical approach is based on the concept of quality of life. In Spring 2000, a postal survey…
Ecological concerns in the Swiss agricultural policy
At the beginning of the 1970s, the Swiss public was shocked by reports in news media on the subject of ecological problems resulting from agricultural activities. Since then, measures to improve integration and promote environmental awareness have been implemented, hesitantly at first due to political opposition, and then more decisively with the agricultural policy reform…
Structural effects of the new agricultural policy
The central thesis of this paper states that the new agricultural policy (since 1993)has initiated a structural change in Swiss agriculture that appears to be quite different from the past.This is due to the shift in income support from production quantity to factor input.It is characterised by the following structural change paradox:While the decrease in…
The future of the horticultural sector in the Lake of Constanze region
Within the framework of an INTERREG Project a study on the horticultural sector in the Lake of Constanze region was carried out. This article deals with the economic effects of an increasingly open market on production and trade. Production was investigated using a linear programming model. One of the main influences on production are the…
Strategies within the scope of agricultural policy 2002
Within the scope of the introduction of Switzerland’s Agricultural Policy 2002, underlying conditions will change so that there will be pressing need for a large number of farms to take action. Model calculations involving a medium-sized mixed farm show that between 1996 and 2003, given a surface increase of 2 % and an adaptation of…
The economic situation of the test farms since 1990
The agricultural income of the test farms of the Central Analysis of Accountancy Data de-creased significantly between 1990 and 1995. The income situation slightly recovered in 1996 and 1997. Taking the general price increase into account, however, the nominal income remains clearly below the level reached at the beginning of the nineties. Over the course…
Agro-economic research as decision support
The FAT’s agro-economic research is focused on analyses, calculations and prognosis helping the farmers, agricultural advisors and agricultural policy in their decision-making processes. Any decision support is an intensive dialogue between the advisors and the decision-makers. The quantitative methods used depend on the specific problems. Agro-political measures in particular must be assessed according to economic,…
The farmer as a manager: contribution of labour economy to the farm management
The increasing pressure on production costs in Swiss agriculture requires a most efficient use of the cost intensive factor of labour. The research in the field of economy of labour of the FAT endeavours to make available the appropriate bases for decisions.
Research in the field of animal housing systems for the assessment of sustainability
Sustainable, that is to say economic, ecological and socially responsible production methods are increasingly requested by the general public and the agricultural policy makers. The primary goal of research in the field of process engineering is to develop and improve animal housing systems. Moreover, the research establishes essential bases for decisions in order to assess…
Life cycle assessment of weed control in field crops
An environmental life cycle assessment of mechanical and mechanical-chemical weed control methods was established for ware potatoes, grain maize, winter rape and winter wheat, and compared to that of chemical techniques. Given the assumptions defined, the following conclusions can be drawn: The factors (fuel consumption, mechanisation, herbicide production, emissions, etc.) influencing the environmental impacts strongly…
Chances of soil conserving tillage practices in Switzerland
The 7th report about agriculture of the Swiss Federal Council laid the foundations for a new ecological direction of Swiss agriculture. Additionally, the revision of the federal act on environment protection extended the legal measures of soil protection. Henceforth, physical and mechanical impacts that cause persistent damage of soil fertility must be avoided. In agriculture,…
Yields and economic results of three farming systems at Burgrain
Since 1992 an intensive (IS), an integrated (IP) and a low input (LI) farming system are compared on all arable plots of the Burgrain farm. The number of pesticide treatments in the integrated and the low input system was 63 % and 83 % lower than in the conventional, rather intensive farming system. Also the…
Evaluation of environmental and ethological measures in agriculture
La valutazione dei provvedimenti ecologicie dei programmi inerenti alla detenzione degli animali é svolta dall’Ufficio federale dell’agricoltura in collaborazione con diversientie stazioni federali di ricerca in base all’ordinanza del 7 dicembre 1998 concernente l’analisi dell’agricolturadal profilodellasostenibilità.La valutazione verte sull’analisi della partecipazione ai singoli provvedimenti o programmi, dei loro effetti e ripercussioni come pure sullo studio…
Profitability of different cattle breeds
The objective of this study was to compare the ratio between input and output (costs and returns) for Holstein, Jersey, and Simmental cattle in Switzerland. A reference situation was defined for comparison. Under a milk price system in which the value of protein is twice as high as the value of fat, and with a…
Environmental indicators – Interface between economy and ecology
Experts carried out a survey using the Delphi method in order to obtain reliable instruments for monitoring the environmental consequences of national legislation and, at the same time, to determine the impact and effectiveness of the applicable regulations. The survey included both the active and inanimate environment (soil, water, air, bio-diversity and landscape). The first…
Life cycle assessment of wheat cropping
An environmental life cycle assessment of different wheat cropping systems (intensive United Kingdom, intensive, integrated and organic Switzerland) was established. The results reveal that wheat cropping systems with a reduced input use proved to be most favourable from an ecological point of view, provided that the yield reaches a certain level. the sensitivity of the…
Nature conservation – from a casual agricultural by-product to an intended service Yields and economic results of three farming systems at Burgrain
Since 1993 nature conservation is promoted within the Swiss agricultural policy. In 1997 4,2 % of the direct governmental subsidies to farmers were allocated to ecological compensation measures. Approximately 9 % of the national agricultural surface was managed on a contractual basis. The empirical analysis in the canton Zurich (1996) confirms that the participation of…
Economic assessment of crop yield and quality in silage maize
The aim of the study was to examine the economic value of crop yield and quality (content of digestible organic matter, DOM) of silage maize. If maize silage is used for fattening bulls, the DOM content plays an important role whereas crop yield can be considered as minor priority in the variety choice. When feeding…
Perception of new technologies in the food sector
With increasingly industrial production and processing, food has more and more the character of a credence good. These are goods whose quality criteria can not be evaluated by the consumers themselves, but only by experts. Even with full declaration and labelling of foodstuff, consumers need the judgements of experts to take advantage of this information.…
Economic result of a production system with primiparous sows
Gilts have finished their first cycle of reproduction before reaching the adult weight. Carcass value of primiparous sows should be closer to fattening pigs than to old sows. An experiment has proved that carcasses of primiparous sows which weaned less than nine piglets had a good meat quality.<br>Calculation of gross margin gave different results depending…
How do farm size and farm structure influence the ecological performance of farms?
The article describes the results of an empirical pilot study in a Swiss mountain region dealing with the question, whether the actual fast trend towards bigger farms with less labour investment supports or hinders the task of a more ecological farming. Our data show, that the current hypothesis has to be adapted: At least in…
Comparing the costs of treating biogenic waste under Swiss conditions
The cost of treating biogenic waste is subject of discussion. However, there is not much data available comparing the costs of the different treatment alternatives. In this report the costs of the following treatment alternatives are compared: Agricultural composting along the fieldpaths in two different sizes, the composting on one small and two mid-sized open…
Intensity of energy use in Swiss agriculture
The intensity of energy use in the agricultural production systems of six industrialized countries, among them Switzerland, was investigated. The study has shown that Switzerland, like The Netherlands, has a high energy intensity. Between the 1980s and beginning of the 1990s the energy intensity of the Swiss agricultural sector has decreased. The same process can…
Landscape concept Switzerland – sustainable use of rural spaces
Since time immemorial biodiversity has formed the basis of agricultural production and thus ensured food supplies for the population. As a rule, however, management plans for these resources are not sufficiently far-reaching to ensure the genetic diversity of food crops. In order to maintain these important resources major efforts have been made over the past…
