Swiss Agricultural Research – Archive of the Online Journal

Agricultural economics 1999

Kaufmann R.

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…

Agricultural economics 1999

Gaillard G., Irla E.

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…

Agricultural economics 1999

Tobias S., Weisskopf P., Schaub D., Marty P.

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,…

Agricultural economics 1999

Dubois D., Zihlmann U., Fried P.M., Tschachtli R., Malitius O.

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…

Agricultural economics 1999

Forni D., Gujer H.U., Nyffenegger L., Vogel S., Gantner U.

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…

Agricultural economics 1999

Rätzer H., Künzi N.

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…

Agricultural economics 1999

Hess B., Schmid H., Lehmann B.

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…

Agricultural economics 1999

Gaillard G., Hausheer J.

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…

Agricultural economics 1999

Baur P.

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…

Agricultural economics 1998

Hilfiker J., Daccord R., Herter U., Menzi M.

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…

Agricultural economics 1998

Anwander Phan-Huy S.

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.…

Agricultural economics 1998

Zbinden P., Hofer A., Künzi N.

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…

Agricultural economics 1998

Bosshard A.

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…

Agricultural economics 1998

Schleiss K., Meier U., Dumondel M., Lehmann B.

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…

Agricultural economics 1998

Lips M., Rieder P.

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…

Agricultural economics 1998

Lehmann H.-J., Heinzer C., Waldner R.

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…

Agricultural economics 1998

Freyer B.

In the year 1994, 124 farmers in the cantons of Basel-Stadt and Basel-land were interviewed to know which were their reasons of changing to methods of production compatible with environment. The results prove that many of the obstacles expected being opposed to a change to methods of production compatible with environment have been assumed with…

Agricultural economics 1998

Freyer B.

The results of this socioeconomic investigation on agriculture, covering various branches of research on the situation and the future perspectives on methods in production respecting environment, are based on data collected in the region of Basle. The main points investigated in these written interviews were: the situation of information on methods used in agriculture respecting…

Agricultural economics 1998

Harder W.

Il 29 aprile 1998 il Parlamento ha varato nuova legge sull’agricoltura. Si conclude così un’importante fase della riforma agraria avviata nel 1992 con il Settimo rapporto sull’ agricoltura. Gli aspetti fondamentali della riforma agraria sono l’orientamento dell’ogricoltura verso il mercato e l’indennizzo, mediante pagamenti diretti, delle prestazioni ecologiche e d’interesse per la collettività