Alpine agriculture

Alpine agriculture

 

Having grown up and worked on a farm in England, seeing the differences with the Swiss way of farming fascinates me.

Firstly, the scale of the agricultural operations here are distinctively smaller than those back in England. In the winter, the farmers live in Kandersteg but as spring and summer progress, they move to higher altitude in the Kandertal, Gasterntal or Ueschinental. The reasons for moving are predominately weather related due to the extreme seasonality – in winter snow covers most of the hillsides and avalanches create danger so the village proves more suitable. As snow starts to melt, grass starts to grow. In higher regions, the grass is exposed to more sunlight so photosynthesises quicker. Nutritious and mineral-rich alpine plants grow higher up, improving the condition of livestock and quality of their produce.

The animals themselves differ greatly from English stock. The Simmental cows, a breed that originates from the Bernese Oberland, are used for both diary and beef. Their young are renowned for rapid growth, and their meat has a strong, flavoursome taste.

 

 

Whilst hiking you’re likely to find some rather large, docile, woolly creatures nearby the path, these are Valais Blacknose sheep (to locals, known as Walliser Schwarznasenschaf). There are also lots of domesticated goats dotted around the mountains.

 

 

For all the tractor enthusiasts out there, Switzerland offers lots of the vintage kind. There’s no need for new, large, expensive, powerful machinery as there’s simply not the space or use for them. Instead farmers use small but effective machinery on their steep land.

A week before I came to KISC we had just finished making our farm’s silage – grass that is cut then stored in covered pits or silos, allowing it to ferment, creating winter fodder for our sheep. When I arrived in Switzerland, the local farmers had also just finished their silage, albeit a much smaller process with most of the grass being collected in by hand. In the last few weeks the farmers have made the most of the sunny weather by making hay – dried grass – another feed for the livestock.

The ecological effect of agriculture is somewhat less in the Swiss Alps than in England. The steep slopes prevent such an extent of soil compaction occurring from the grazing animals. The grazing itself is also beneficial for the environment as shorter grass lessens the likelihood and impact of landslides. Less fossil fuels are burnt by machinery as manpower carries out a greater percentage of the work. The land has more time to recover from the impact of grazing as the animal stocking rate is lower and only graze areas in certain seasons.

The balance between agriculture and nature is a key concept of environmental sustainability and at the moment Switzerland seems to have it just right.

Annie Carr (UK)

STS Summer 2013