Swiss Agricultural Research – Archive of the Online Journal

Agricultural economics 2003

Meier T., Munz G.

In its summer session 2003 the Swiss parliament concluded its debate concerning its message on the further development of agrarian policy (agrarian policy 2007). For the most part it supported the Federal Council’s proposals. On the basis of these changes in current law, as well as for the purposes of optimising their implementation, the Swiss…

Agricultural economics 2003

Giuliani G., Rieder P.

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 2003

Mack G.

The sectoral and regional effects of the abolition of milk quotas as well as changes to the governmental price support system were analysed by means of the Sectoral Information and Forecasting System for Swiss Agriculture (SILAS). According to model calculations, as a consequence of an abolition of the milk quotas, milk production would increase in…

Agricultural economics 2003

Mann S.

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 2003

Mann S.

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 2003

Luder W.

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 2002

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

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 2002

Stucki B.

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…

Agricultural economics 2002

Schwab P., Cerutti F., Von Reibnitz U.H.

In the year 2000, the Agricultural Research Business Unit (ARBU) of the Swiss Federal Office for Agriculture (FOAG) decided to carry out a Foresight Process. Foresight means taking a systematic look at the future in order to be able to draw conclusions about actions taken or not taken in the present. Foresight is applied internationally…

Agricultural economics 2002

Schelske O., Seidl I.

This paper deals with biodiversity conservation by economic activities in the food and nutrition sector. A case study about the growing and marketing of the wheat species Emmer (Triticum dicoccum) in the region Schaffhausen analyses necessary success factors for the development of similar regional economic activities. Such success factors are the involved regional production capabilities,…

Agricultural economics 2002

Luder W.

On a well-equipped upland farm the daily indoor tasks hardly differ from those of a lowland farm on which beef cattle are reared. From this point of view it would easily be possible for a two-generation hill farming family to keep 25 dairy cattle together with the same number of rearing beef cattle and starter…

Agricultural economics 2002

Richter T., Bapst B., Meili E.

Organic beef sold under the label Bio Weide-Beef® (BWB) has been marketed very successfully via outlets of the retailer Migros Ostschweiz since 1999. On the basis of two consumer surveys in outlets of Migros Ostschweiz, FiBL collected relevant information on the factors that most probably influenced the success of this label. The brand label program…

Agricultural economics 2002

Wildisen M., Zuber M.

On 29 May 2002 the Federal Council approved the motion for further developing agrarian policy (Agrarian Policy 2007). This motion includes changes to six fe-deral laws and one federal decision concerning funding for agriculture for the period 2004-2007. The key elements are the abolishment of milk quotas, the sale of meat import quotas to the…

Agricultural economics 2002

Lips M.

The abolishment of the swiss raw milk quota is analyzed. While the raw milk production increases by 14 % the price for raw milk producers is remarkably sinking. Taking the bilateral contracts between Switzerland and the European Union into consideration only a small raise of the raw milk quantity results. The analysis is carried out…

Agricultural economics 2002

Imboden O.

Agricultural economics 2002

Schenk A.

In Switzerland dry grasslands belong to the endangered biotopes. As a part of the federal inventory of dry grasslands of national importance, this project dealt with the question which factors influence the farmers’ decision to sign a management contract for dry grassland. The results show that apart from financial reasons several other factors are relevant.…

Agricultural economics 2001

Pezzatti M., Rieder P.

Agricultural economics 2001

Steingruber E., Hofer P.

“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…

Agricultural economics 2000

Lehmann H.-J., Hänni H.

Agricultural economics 2000

Girsberger M.A.

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…

Agricultural economics 2000

Radlinsky A., Theler C., Lehmann B.

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…

Agricultural economics 2000

Fust W.

Agricultural economics 2000

Anwander Phan-Huy S.

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…

Agricultural economics 2000

Baur P.

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…

Agricultural economics 2000

Hartnagel S., Schmid O., Freyer B.

Agricultural economics 1999

Ammann M.

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…

Agricultural economics 1999

Pfefferli S., Schmid D.

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…

Agricultural economics 1999

Meier B.

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…

Agricultural economics 1999

Malitius O., Pfefferli S.

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,…

Agricultural economics 1999

Luder W., Näf E.

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.

Archive

Swiss agrarian policy 2007 and its implementation

Determinants of Farmland Prices

Sectoral effects of changes to the milk market organisation in Switzerland

The Swiss Farm Structure in 2008

Determinants of structural change in agriculture

Rural work: Definition of a general standard

Investment costs for larger dairy barns in Switzerland

Women in Agriculture Today

Foresight – using scenarios to shape the future

A case study on the growing and marketing of old land races

Farm growth in hill regions: reorganising the hay harvest

Bio Weide-Beef – Beef Brand with high Consumer Benefit

Agrarian Policy 2007 – The further development of agrarian policy

Abolishment of the Swiss Raw Milk Quota

Agrotourismus in der Schweiz

Acceptance of contracts for managing dry grassland

Influence of development on agricultural structure in Alpine regions

Economic efficiency of no-tillage

State and farmers guarantee and reap the benefits of biodiversity

Patents, Plant Breeders' Rights and Farmers' Rights

Social sustainability in Swiss agriculture

Empowerment through research

Ecological concerns in the Swiss agricultural policy

Structural effects of the new agricultural policy

Strategies for milk farms in European mountain regions (Swiss Jura, Black Forest, Vogesen)

The future of the horticultural sector in the Lake of Constanze region

Strategies within the scope of agricultural policy 2002

The economic situation of the test farms since 1990

Agro-economic research as decision support

The farmer as a manager: contribution of labour economy to the farm management