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Agricultural economics

Baltensweiler M., Erdin D.

Causes for the change of agricultural structures

Multivariate statistical methods were used to investigate the decisive factors responsible for the change of agricultural structures in Switzerland. For this purpose, the relative development of a) all farms, b) full-time farms, c) part-time farms and d) part-time workers in agriculture in the period from 1985 to 2000 was examined. 32 socio-economic and agricultural variables…
Agricultural economics

Zgraggen K., Flury Ch., Jung M., Rieder P.

Agricultural policy 2011 – hang on, liberalise or economise?

The current discussion about agricultural policy 2011 is taking place primarily among experts, politicians and those who represent agricultural interests. We aim to make the public at large aware of developments in agriculture by illustrating the relationships between the market, politics and developments in agricultural structures. To this end, we create photo-realistic illustrations of future…
Agricultural economics

Bosshard A., Schläpfer F.

Ways towards a target oriented Swiss agricultural policy

The obvious need, in the context trade liberalisation, for further reforming public support for agriculture in Switzerland currently generates lively political debates among affected interest groups. However, a basic understanding of the important public-good issues involved is frequently lacking in these discussions. Currently, only a small fraction of the subsidies are tightly linked to explicit…
Agricultural economics

Sanders J., Schmid O., Richter T.

Organic initiatives in Switzerland

This paper examines the relevance, environment, key-characteristics and success factors of organic marketing initiatives in Switzerland. Although most initiatives have a similar principal business idea (bundling, processing and/or collective marketing of organic primary products), they can be highly diverse with regard to their objectives, their business strategies and philosophy, as well as their size and…
Agricultural economics

Zgraggen K., Flury Ch., Gotsch N., Rieder P.

Design of land use in the Greifensee region

This present article investigates the importance of the role played by ecological direct payments in ensuring ecologically compatible land use, taking anticipated developments in agriculture in the Greifensee region as a point of departure. Calculations carried out using an economic land use optimisation model for the year 2011 show that today’s ecological contributions are both…
Agricultural economics

Zgraggen K., Flury Ch., Gotsch N., Rieder P.

Development of agriculture in the Greifensee region

An agricultural sector model was developed as an integral element of the Greifensee project. It was designed to assess medium and long-term developments in agriculture and land use and to evaluate policy measures. The model exhibits a high degree of spatial detail which aids the assessment of ecological effects. This article presents the optimisation model…
Agricultural economics

Flury Ch., Gotsch N., Rieder P., Szerencsits E., Schüpbach B., Gantner U.

Greifensee project: interdisciplinary research for agriculture

The interdisciplinary Greifensee research project deals with the utilisation of land and landscapes in the densely settled Swiss midlands (see http://www.ito.umnw.eth.ch/SoilPhys/greifensee/). Using the Greifensee region as an example, fundamental scientific principles for the organisation and management of sustainable agriculture and forestry are developed, together with the policy measures required for their implementation. Various aspects of…
Agricultural economics

Stahli R., Merk-Lorez F., Weber A.

Project Opti-Milk: Collaboration in learning groups

Active cooperation among researchers, advisers and farmers has been promoted and practised for over sixty years. In Swiss agriculture, however, participatory research and extension activities are still lacking. Therefore, the Swiss College of Agriculture has been taken up this topic as part of its Opti-Milch research project. It has studied the available literature, analyzed past…
Agricultural economics

Frick C., Gutapfel N., Hebeisen Th.

Renewable raw materials in Switzerland

Besides food, agriculture can produce renewable raw materials as well. These vegetable products such as fibres, oil, carbohydrates or special components can be used in a wide range of industrial applications. Within the EU-project IENICA, the European countries analysed their use of renewable raw material at present. The project focused on the industrial application in…
Agricultural economics

Durgiai B., Müller R.

Project Opti-Milk: economic planning

In the framework of the project Opti-Milk of the Swiss College of Agriculture an ambitious but realisable planning and implementation concept was individually established for two groups of nine farms each following the high yield (HL) or the full grazing (VW) strategy. Both strategies showed a considerable potential for the sustainable improvement of the competitiveness…
Agricultural economics

Flury Ch., Gotsch N., Rieder P.

A new concept for direct payments related to land use in the mountain region

n this article, the system of direct payments linked to land use – so-called site-specific payments – is evaluated. Model calculations for the Swiss Alpine region show that a regional differentiation of these payments results in efficiency gains. Any new organisational concept for direct payments in the mountain region must distinguish between the objective of…
Agricultural economics

Kaufmann R., Pfefferli S.

What does the FAT do? Current project portfolio

Agroscope FAT Tänikon’s main research priorities for the 2004-2007 period can be described as follows: Economic analyses and forecasts for the agricultural sector produce decision bases for agricultural policy. The subject matter of our investigations covers productivity development, use of public funds, the direct payment system, dairy farming, food chains and the economic situation of…
Agricultural economics

Pfefferli S., Kaufmann R., Meier W.

Orientation of the FAT`s work 2004-2007

Agroscope FAT Tänikon’s main research priorities for the 2004-2007 period can be described as follows: Economic analyses and forecasts for the agricultural sector produce decision bases for agricultural policy. The subject matter of our investigations covers productivity development, use of public funds, the direct payment system, dairy farming, food chains and the economic situation of…
Agricultural economics

Flury Ch., Gotsch N., Rieder P.

Structural change in support of future-orientated mountain agriculture

Structural change has become a central theme in debates on agriculture and, at the same time, is likewise getting more and more attention at the regional policy level. Regardless of the particular position supported, discussions focus mainly on the extent of structural change that is necessary, from a long-term point of view, to ensure that…
Agricultural economics

Durgiai B., Müller R.

Project Opti-Milk: economic results

In the framework of the project Opti-Milk two groups of nine pioneer farms each were coached on different ways towards the common goal of a sustainable and competitive dairy production. The two groups followed different strategies: the high yield strategy (HL) and the low cost strategy (VW). At the start of the project, the pioneer…
Agricultural economics

Erzinger S., Badertscher Fawaz R., Dux D., Zimmermann A.

Ecology and profitability in Milk production

An in-depth economic comparison was carried out with different housing systems for dairy cows. Differences between the systems in terms of animal health, work quality, environmental impacts and product quality were also taken into account. The comparison involved tie-stall systems and cubicle housing systems.The results of the economic comparison show that average milk production is…
Agricultural economics

Mann S.

Agriculture and rural areas

The Swiss constitution prescribes that agriculture has to contribute to an even population in the rural countryside. This paper examines by the means of a regression analysis to which extent enterprises in the three economic sectors contribute to population dynamics in rural communities. Although agricultural enterprises have much less employees than enterprises in the industry…
Agricultural economics

Hubschmid S., Cerutti F., Gantner U.

The Radar Project – An in-depth look at the situation concerning agricultural research

The Radar Project describes the development of conditions surrounding agricultural research. On the political side, the importance of the state with regard to funding is decreasing. The technological aspect is progressing, as can be seen from the growth in the worldwide cultivation of genetically modified organisms (GMOs), for example. From an economic point of view,…
Agricultural economics

Giuliani G., Rieder P.

Determinants of Farmland Prices

The aim of the study presented by this article is to identify existing conflicts of land use and ownership, together with the problems arising therefore, by reference to an analysis of the market for agricultural land. The method used for the empirical analysis is the method of hedonic price model. It was found that prices…
Agricultural economics

Mann S.

The Swiss Farm Structure in 2008

Forecasts are made on the future development of Swiss agricultural structures by using results of an ex-post-analysis on the determinants of structural change. As a result, the structural change in Swiss agriculture will continue with an annual rate of 2.7 per cent less farms each year. Small farms with up to ten hectares will have…
Agricultural economics

Mann S.

Determinants of structural change in agriculture

The change of Swiss agricultural structures 1985-2001 is explained by macroeconomic, sectoral and farm-specific variables. Expected explanatory patterns arise (eg. the influence of the farmer’s age), but also unexpected ones. The off-farm income, for example, plays a more important role to preserve agricultural structures than agricultural income. Acreage as a size variable has a stabilising…
Agricultural economics

Luder W.

Rural work: Definition of a general standard

Currently, rural work is increasingly subject to public discussion. The working time requirements of rural enterprises are also of significance for different agro-political measures. But how can rural work be measured or calculated? Depending on the measure, different definitions are possible. All standards have been based on the same labour economics data, however, the strict…
Agricultural economics

Spring P., Gavillet D., Joray S., Müller C., Hilty R., Van Caenegem L.

Investment costs for larger dairy barns in Switzerland

The aim of the present survey was to evaluate the investments for larger dairy barns in Switzerland based on realized objects. The investments were analyzed on 22 objects built between 1998 and 2001 with an average capacity of 84 animal units (AU) (52 – 190 AU). The capital cost was evaluated based on the construction…
Agricultural economics

Stucki B.

Women in Agriculture Today

The present study examines the position of women in agriculture in Switzerland. It is still the case that many women who work in the agricultural sector today come from a farming background. As a rule, however, their principal training was not in agriculture. Their main spheres of activity are housework, family and gardening, followed by…

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