Simone Zaugg, Autor bei Agrarforschung Schweiz

Suter D., Frick R. und Hirschi H.U.

Birdsfoot trefoil and sainfoin are used in mixtures for perennial hay meadows and for tannin-containing fodder. Agroscope is adding two new cultivars of birdsfoot trefoil to the ‘List of Recommended Varieties of Forage Plants’, whilst there is no change in the case of sainfoin.

Agroscope

Environment 22.11.22

Argento F., Liebisch F., Anken T., El Benni N.

A comparison of different methods of winter-wheat fertilisation with nitrogen showed that nitrogen surpluses can be significantly reduced by means of site-specific variable-rate nitrogen fertilisation.

Agroscope, ETH Zurich

Agricultural economics 18.11.22

Zimmert F., Zorn A.

Employment in the agricultural sector is declining in many European countries, especially in livestock farming. Direct payments can counter this trend and lead to the employment of more – especially female – family members on the farm.

Agroscope

Animal production 14.11.22

Gazzarin C., Blättler T., Bütler A., Durgiai B. und Schmid D.

Although milk-production oriented (MPO) cow breeds have also become established in the mountain region, farms with the dual-purpose ‘Original Simmental’ breed are proving to be economically viable, with lower costs and higher direct payments making up for lower revenues from milk.

Agroscope, BFH-HAFL

Environment 10.11.22

Fabian Y., Roberti G., Jacot K., Gramlich A., Benz R., Szerencsits E., Churko G., Prasuhn V., Leifeld J., Zorn A., Walter T. (ꝉ), Herzog F.

Many tile drainage systems on arable land are in need of renewal. Cantons and stakeholders will now be given a decision-making tool enabling them to assess such areas in detail and to find sustainable solutions.

Agroscope

Environment 08.11.22

Kupper T., Häni C., Bretscher D., Zaucker F.

Ammonia emissions from the Swiss farming sector have scarcely declined over the past 20 years. This is because the factors leading to either an increase or decrease in emissions have for the most part cancelled each other out between 2000 and 2020.

BFH-HAFL, Agroscope, OETIKER+PARTNER AG

Animal production 03.11.22

Bach L., Ammann J., Bruckmaier R. M., Müller U., Umstätter C.

High milk yields before drying-off increase the risk of udder infections during the dry period. An online survey highlights what drying-off methods are currently used and how farmers rate the ‘incomplete milking’ approach for reducing milk yield.

Agroscope, University of Bern, Thünen-Institut, Universität Bonn

Plant production 31.10.22

Suter D., Frick R., Hirschi H.U.

Tall oat grass and golden oat grass are typical hay-meadow grasses that are also suitable for forage mixtures. Of the four tall and three golden oat grass varieties tested, only one new variety of tall oat grass is likely to make it onto the List of Recommended Varieties.

Agroscope

Plant production 19.10.22

Stevenel P., Wendling M., Brabant C., Suss H., Savoyat C., Dierauer H., Mascher F., Charles R.

FiBL and Agroscope investigated bread wheat varieties to determine their yield and quality stability. The results show that the choice of variety must be adapted to the site and that high yield potential does not go hand-in-hand with a high protein content.

Agroscope, FiBL

Plant production 06.10.22

Nay M., Tanner P. und Grieder C.

Adapted and high-yielding varieties of forage plants are important for Switzerland as a grassland country. Hybrid ryegrass is a versatile forage grass that, thanks to breeding advances, has become even more persistent, disease-resistant and high-yielding over the past 30 years.

Agroscope

Food 03.10.22

Irmler S., Haldemann J., Arias-Roth E.

Biogenic amines in foods represent a health risk. Researchers from Agroscope and INRAE investigated the formation of these undesirable substances in raclette cheeses by the bacterium Morganella morganii.

Agroscope

Environment 22.09.22

Verena Säle, Muris Korkaric, Reto Neuweiler, Laura de Baan

Agroscope has developed a scoring system for plant protection in vegetable crops. The system enables the creation of incentives for reducing the use and environmental risks of plant-protection products and promoting preventive and non-chemical measures.

Agroscope, IP-SUISSE

Environment 24.08.22

Calanca P., Wüst-Galley C., Giuliani S. and Erdin D.

Dry summers can see a loss of up to 25% of total Swiss roughage production. This is because grassland yields are strongly correlated with summer drought, as shown by a new analysis conducted by Agroscope and the Swiss Farmers’ Union.

Agroscope, Swiss Farmer’s Union SFU

Plant production 22.08.22

Fesselet M., Tschuy F. und Wirth J.

Herbicide-resistant weeds are a growing problem throughout the world. Monitoring herbicide resistance in Switzerland allows us to understand the mechanisms behind it and to better manage the use of herbicides.

Agroscope

Plant production 16.08.22

Mathis M., Blom J.F., Nemecek T., Bravin E., Jeanneret P., Daniel O., de Baan L.

Agroscope compared crop protection strategies in apple production. Reducing the use of plant-protection products lowered the local ecotoxological risks, but resulted in trade-offs between environmental and economic performance.

Agroscope

Environment 21.07.22

Leifeld J., Keel S.G.

Storing carbon in the soil in the form of soil organic matter benefits the climate. A new approach allows us to quantify this effect.

Agroscope

Environment 12.07.22

Grossrieder J., Ringger C., Argento F., Grandgirard R., Anken T. und Liebisch F.

A test of five methods using the example of winter-wheat cultivation shows that site-specific nitrogen fertilisation enables more efficient fertilising without adversely affecting yield.

Agroscope, Grangeneuve

Environment 05.07.22

Seiler F.L., Mann S., Holzkämper A.

The past 30 years have seen a clear trend towards rising water costs. The supply of agricultural land with water from natural sources is thus coming under increasing pressure.

Agroscope, Freie Universität Berlin

Plant production 01.07.22

Meissle M., Naranjo S. E., Romeis J.

Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) bacterium proteins protect Bt maize from being fed on by specific insects. A new, systematic analysis of international field data confirms that non-target organisms in Bt maize are largely spared.

Agroscope, USDA-ARS, Arid-Land Agricultural Research Center, USA

Agricultural economics 28.06.22

Ammann J., Ritzel C., El Benni N.

The pandemic has influenced not only our everyday life but also our behaviour. Agroscope looked at which population groups and behaviours experienced or underwent particularly significant changes, and what this means for our health.

Agroscope

Environment 24.06.22

Guillaume T., Makowski D., Libohova Z., Elfouki S., Fontana M., Leifeld J., Bragazza L., Sinaj S.

Protecting the climate whilst reaping a good harvest is possible if greater amounts of carbon are sequestered in the soil. Agroscope calculated the amount of additional carbon that the soil is capable of storing.

Agroscope, INRAE, USDA-ARS Dale Bumpers Small Farms Research Center

Environment 16.06.22

Prasuhn V., Hofer P., Liniger H.

A long-term field study conducted by Agroscope, the Soil Protection Agency of the Canton of Bern and the University of Bern shows that soil erosion on arable land can be significantly reduced with the right measures – in particular, conservation tillage practices.

Agroscope, Office for Agriculture and Nature of the Canton of Bern, Soil Protection Agency, Centre for Development and Environment (CDE), University of Bern

Plant production 15.06.22

Zufferey V., Verdenal T., Reynard J.-S., Dienes-Nagy A., Belcher S., Lorenzini F., Rösti J., Gindro K., Spangenberg J. E., Viret O., Carlen C., Spring J.-L.

Tests carried out by Agroscope in the Valais region reveal that the Humagne Rouge grape variety yields better wines and is less susceptible to bunch shrivel when grapevines are not irrigated.

Agroscope, Auvernier Office of Viticulture and Agroecology, University of Lausanne, Morges Agriculture and Viticulture Service (SAVI)

Agricultural economics 18.05.22

Umstätter C., Mann S. und Werner J.

Previous criteria used to measure social sustainability have their limits in the case of family farms. We propose focusing on workload. Initial results show that this is an easy-to-use and meaningful indicator.

Agroscope, Thünen-Institut, University of Hohenheim

Plant production 13.05.22

Kaiser A., Burger P.

To reduce plant-protection product use, we need to know what behavioural patterns farmers follow when using plant-protection products in their crops. This was the subject of a study conducted by Agroscope in Switzerland.

Agroscope, University of Basel

Agricultural economics 12.05.22

El Benni N., Ritzel C., Heitkämper K. und Mack G.

Why do Swiss farmers complain about the administrative burden associated with the direct payments system? Studies conducted by Agroscope show that the issue is not the time required: other factors are more important.

Agroscope

Animal production 05.05.22

Herholz C., Siegwart J., Bruckmaier R.M., Rytz E., Lamon I., Muhr M. und Stirnimann R.

In both sport and alternative agriculture, horses are once again being used as draught animals. Efficient power transmission plays an important role in the wellbeing of draught horses.

BFH-HAFL, Vetsuisse Faculty University of Bern, IG Arbeitspferde Schweiz

Food 29.04.22

Spring J.-L., Zufferey V., Verdenal T., Reynard J.-S., Lorenzini F., Bourdin G., Carlen C.

Divico, Agroscope’s new disease-resistant grape variety, is noted for the quality of its wines. Blending trials with the Pinot Noir variety have shown that Divico is also highly suitable for correcting colour intensity in the latter.

Agroscope

Animal production 28.04.22

Straub U.

A study by Vetsuisse shows that the outdoor veal calf concept reduces antibiotic consumption in calf fattening by 80%. AGRIDEA has examined the economic viability of outdoor veal calf production and concludes that it cannot compete with conventional veal calf fattening.

Agridea

Plant production 27.04.22

Rainer Frick, Daniel Suter, Hansueli Hirschi, Edwige Dereuder, Cédric Coudry

Crimson clover is essentially used as a catch crop in association with ryegrass. The comparative trial conducted in 2019-21 has led to the addition of two new acquisitions to the List of Recommended Varieties of Forage Plants.

Agroscope

Archive

Two New Varieties of Birdsfoot Trefoil Recommended

Effectively Reducing Nitrogen Surpluses

Direct Payments Bolster Family Employment on the Farm

Mountain Milk Production with Dual-Purpose Cows: Outdated Tradition or Modern Moneyspinner?

Rethinking the Use of Waterlogged Wet Arable Land

Ammonia Emissions from Agriculture in Switzerland for 1990 to 2020

Dairy Cows: Swiss Farms Surveyed on Drying-off Practice

Tall and Golden Oat Grass: Few New Good Varieties

Bread Wheat Varieties in Organic Farming

Hybrid Ryegrass Combines the Best Features of Perennial and Italian Ryegrass

The Bacterium Morganella morganii Forms Biogenic Amines in Raclette Cheeses

Scoring Points with Plant Protection in Vegetable Crops

Average Grassland Yields in Switzerland Shaped by Summer Drought

Gaining a Better Understanding of Herbicide Resistance

Crop Protection in Apple Production: Environmental and Economic Impacts of Different Strategies

Temporary Carbon Sinks also Benefit the Climate

More Efficient Nitrogen Use thanks to Site-Specific Fertilisation

Rising Expenditure for Water Use in Agriculture

Bt Maize Has Minimal Impact on Non-Target Organisms

How Has the COVID-19 Pandemic Changed our Behaviour?

Determining Soil Carbon Storage Potential

Long-term Monitoring Shows Effective Measures for Reducing Soil Erosion

Humagne Rouge: Moderate Water Stress Improves Wine Quality

How Can the Social Sustainability of Family Farms Be Measured?

Diversity in Swiss Crop Protection Practices

Direct Payments System: How to Reduce the Administrative Burden

Use of Horses: Performance and Welfare in Working Horses – a Pilot Study

Divico Wines in Blends with Pinot Noir: High Quality, Intense Colour

The Outdoor Veal Calf Concept Reduces the Use of Antibiotics – Is It Cost-Effective as Well?

Two New Varieties of Incarnate Clover Recommended