The number of farms across the country fell by 1.3% to 49,363 in 2020, while the total area of farmland stayed almost the same, said the Federal Statistical Office (FSO) on Tuesday.
At 21.15 hectares, the average size of a Swiss farm has almost doubled in the past 30 years.
Last year, the majority of land was used as natural or grazing fields (604,600 hectares, or 58% of the total), while crops were grown on 38%, vines cultivated on 1.3%, and fruits on 0.7%.
Dairy cows and dairy farmers decreased, by 1.5% and 2.6% respectively, with pork farmers also dropping slightly. Poultry on the other hand is on the increase, with the number of laying hens especially increasing by 10%.
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When there’s plenty of work in the fields, but few workers
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Swiss farmers are having to improvise to find enough labourers during the coronavirus pandemic to help with the harvest.
Just under 150,000 people worked on Swiss farms in 2020: over half of them part-time, and three-quarters of them as part of a family holding. It’s not clear how the pandemic affected the agricultural market, although also on Tuesday, the Caritas association launched a nationwide appeal External linkfor voluntary workers to help out on Swiss farms in mountain regions throughout the summer.
Organic growth
As for the number of farmers operating organically (as defined by the 1997 federal ordinanceExternal link on organic farming), this also continued to increase last year, by 3.8% to a total of 7,561 farms – around 15% of the total.
Agriculture, and organic farming, will be the underlying topic of two national votes on June 13 next, when Swiss citizens will decide on a pair of people’s initiatives demanding an end to the use of synthetic pesticides in the country.
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Democracy
Calls grow louder for pesticide-free food and water
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Two separate proposals are demanding a reform of Switzerland’s agriculture and food production sectors, phasing out the use of synthetic pesticides.
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Switzerland slams Israeli Doha attack as 'a clear and unacceptable violation of Qatari sovereignty and territorial integrity'.
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The Swiss Senate does not want Switzerland to recognise the state of Palestine at present. On Tuesday it rejected an initiative by canton Geneva calling for this.
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Main Swiss farmers’ group alarmed by planned pesticide ban
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Why the leading farmers organisation warns against two people's initiatives trying to ban the use of pesticides for the Swiss agricultue sector.
Pesticide initiatives: a ‘David-versus-Goliath’ campaign
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Organic farmer and Green Party politician Kilian Baumann explains why he is voting in favour of both pesticide initiatives on June 13.
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If you want to start a conversation about a topic raised in this article or want to report factual errors, email us at english@swissinfo.ch.