Organic farmers and poultry farmers increase
The number of farms continued to decline in 2019. The agricultural production area has also continued to shrink. In contrast, more and more farmers are producing organically on more and more land. Graubünden continues to be a pioneer in this respect.
Last year, 50,038 farms were registered in Switzerland, 814 fewer than in the previous year. They farmed a total of 1,043,729 hectares, 1247 hectares less than in 2018. The decline is solely at the expense of conventionally producing farms.
In contrast, the number of organic farms increased by 252 to 7284. Together, they manage 170,007 hectares, 8986 hectares more than in 2018. This figure does not include summer pastures.
Graubünden remains the only canton where organic farms are in the majority: 1305 organic farms cultivate 36,889 hectares, while 945 conventionally producing farms cultivate 19,288 hectares. Bern and Vaud show the largest increase with 39 and 37 more organic farms, respectively. The organic area increased in both cantons by 1227 and 1835 hectares.
Excerpt from the press release of the Swiss Federal Statistical Office FSO
Less bread wheat and sugar beet
In 2019, the majority of agricultural land (UAA) comprised natural meadows and pastures (605 700 ha or 58% of UAA). Arable farming was practiced on 398 800 hectares (38% of LN). The
other areas (38 200 ha; 4% of the LN) consisted, among others, of vineyards (13 400 ha) and orchards (7000 ha).
The crops developed differently in 2019. The area under bread wheat (73 600 ha) decreased by 2.8%, and that under sugar beet shrank by another 1000 hectares in 2019 to 17 600 hectares. The area under vegetables also decreased (11 900 ha; -2.1%) after growing for several years. In contrast, sunflower cultivation increased in 2019 (5900 ha; +9.6%).
Areas under oats (1700 ha, +5.2%) and spelt (5700 ha, +6%) also grew particularly strongly. Some niche crops such as millet and sorghum, hemp and lentils have also increased to
on the rise.
Organic farming is now an integral part of Swiss agriculture and is practiced on 16% of the land. The organically farmed areas account for 21% in the case of vegetables, for
legumes 29% and for vines 10%. Organic sugar beets, on the other hand, are not very common, with only 1%.
Fewer and fewer dairy cows and pigs, more poultry
As in previous years, cattle numbers continued to decline in 2019 (-1.2%). This trend was particularly pronounced for dairy cows (554,600 head, -1.7%). Since 1999, the
Dairy cow herds decreased by 19%, the number of breeding farms also decreased (-47%).
Spurred by the success of organic production, beef production gained importance analogously to previous years: the number of suckler cows increased by 2.2%. Their numbers tripled within 20 years (1999: 41 200; 2019: 128 300). In the field of pork production, both the number of producers (5800; -5.7%) and animal stocks (-4.1%) decreased.
Poultry farming recorded an overall upswing in 2019 (+2.5%). Due to increasing demand, the number of laying hens increased by 5.3% compared to 2018. 18% of which are raised under
bred with an organic label. In contrast, the number of fattening poulets remained stable year-on-year. Sheep and goat numbers also remained virtually unchanged in 2019. The latter are
mainly kept in the cantons of Bern, Grisons, Valais and St. Gallen. Three quarters of the dairy sheep are bred according to the rules of organic farming.
So the shift to organic production is definitely evident in meat production: the number of suckler cows increased by 2.2 percent in 2019, while the number of dairy cows decreased by 1.7 percent, according to the FSO (FSO) in a Communication.
