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The CULTAN system in a screening test for Swiss arable farming
The CULTAN (Controlled Uptake Long Term Ammonium Nutrition) system was tested on farmers fields in the Swiss Midlands from 2008 to 2010. In plot trials with winter wheat and grain maize, liquid ammonium sulphate was applied in a single dose according to the CULTAN system and compared with ammonium nitrate and ammonium sulphate, which were…
Western corn rootworm control in Switzerland, yet a successful story
Since 2000 Switzerland belongs to the 22 European countries where the quarantine pest Diabrotica virgifera virgifera LeConte, Western corn rootworm, has been detected. It’s reported to be the most important maize pest worldwide with an economical damage up to 1,5 Billion $. In Switzerland, it’s constantly present in the southern part of the Alps, while…
N-Efficacy in fattening pigs
In regions with high density of animal production, Import/Export-balances (IMPEX) are used to monitor the use of diets with reduced P- and N- concentrations. Based on the IMPEX data, the farms can claim a reduction in waste nutrients. The aim of the presentment study was to analyze 1665 IMPEX-balances from pig farms in the state…
Bacterial wilt – a puzzling disease of forage grasses
Bacterial wilt of forage grasses is caused by the bacterium Xanthomonas translucens pv. graminis (Xtg) and leads to major damage in meadows and pastures. To support the breeding of resistant cultivars, we are studying the genetic bases of the interaction between bacteria and plants. In doing so, we have learnt that this interaction exhibits a…
Fruit genetic resources: diversity for the future
Since 1999, the Federal Office of Agriculture (BLW) supports the collection, conservation and description of old fruit varieties within the framework of the National Plan of Action (NAP) for the Conservation and Sustainable Use of Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture (PGRFA). In the course of the nationwide fruit inventory in the years 2000…
Effect of grazing system on fattening performance and meat quality of lambs grazing alpine summer pastures
In Switzerland, the level of subsidy provided for summer grazing of sheep differs between grazing systems. They are higher for rotational grazing than for permanent pasture systems. In this controlled alpine grazing experiment, fattening performance and meat quality were compared between these two grazing systems. Fifty-five castrated male lambs (36.2±4.2 kg live weight, 27±3 weeks…
A close look at the butyric acid bacterial spores in silages and moist hay
The guidelines of different traditional Swiss semi hard and hard cheeses prohibit to feed conserved forage containing more than 18 % water to dairy cows. In two trials, the butyric acid bacterial content of the forage, faeces and milk of cattle fed with moist hay and silages was investigated. In the first trial, silages with…
Grain sorghum – an arable crop with attractive properties, as yet unknown in Switzerland
With 40.5 million hectares under cultivation, Sorghum bicolor (L.) Moench is the world’s fifth-most important arable crop. Although primarily cultivated in warmer regions, the area devoted to this crop in Europe has increased over the past few years – among other things because sorghum produces attractive yields even when little water is available. In order…
How secure is food security?
After the positive experience of expanding domestic production to the maximum in order to safeguard the food supply in the Second World War, greater importance has been attached to crop planning and storage for crisis situations in Switzerland than in neighbouring countries. The emergence of operational research meant that systems for the sole purpose of…
Pesticides and surface water: practical protective measures
Plant protection products are applied to farmed land to protect crops from harmful organisms. From there, they might be transported via drift and run-off to adjacent habitats. For the active substances, regulatory acceptable concentrations (RAC) for aquatic organisms are determined during the authorization process. As part of the process of assessing the environmental risk, these…
Forage potential of the Jura pastures
The next land reform will force farmers to maximize the use of local feed resources. In the Jura, the heterogeneity of natural conditions drives to a variety of plant associations with specific production potential, often difficult to assess. Methods have been tested in plains and mountain regions to learn more about yield variability of the…
Determined and estimated nutritive value of chicory, birdsfoot trefoil and sainfoin
The assessment of the nutritional value of plants rich in condensed tannins (CT) stems from the models predicting the normal nutritional value. In order to verify the effects, this study compares the nutritional value of chicory (cychorium intybus), sainfoin (onobrychis viciifolia) and lotus (lotus corniculatus) obtained with data determined using animals (in vivo, in sacco)…
Ammonia from cattle housing systems: development of emissions in Switzerland
Annual livestock numbers, the distribution of livestock housing systems and NH3 emission factors were used to calculate ammonia emissions (NH3) from cattle farming for the years 1990 to 2020. Emission factors for loose housing with outdoor exercise areas were computed using a model-based calculation based on emission measurements from six dairy housing systems, milk urea…
Prediction of fruit set in apple to facilitate the chemical fruit thinning
The decision, whether a chemical fruit thinning in an apple orchard is necessary and to what extent, is often difficult. Currently growers take a decision without knowing the extend of natural fruit drop (June drop). In recent years two methods for prediction of fruit set respectively the intensity of June fruit drop in apples have…
Innovative agroforestry systems – on-farm monitoring of opportunities and limitations
Agriculture will undergo ecological intensification. Agroforestry systems which combine woody plants with arable crops and/or grassland provide ecological as well as economic benefits. One the one hand, agroforestry systems are characterised by higher overall productivity. On the other, they are expected to provide improved resource conservation and contribute to enhanced biodiversity. Whether this potential can…
