Boltshauser, A.

Hofstetter, Pius

Ruoss, E.

English

University of Kentucky

University of Kentucky UKnowledge International Grassland Congress Proceedings 21st International Grassland Congress / 8th International Rangeland Congress Effects of Environmental and Political Framework on Alpine Farming and Its Development in the Entlebuch UNESCO Biosphere Reserve Switzerland Pius Hofstetter Agricultural Education and Extension Centre, Switzerland A. Boltshauser Entlebuch UNESCO Biosphere Reserve, Switzerland E. Ruoss Entlebuch UNESCO Biosphere Reserve, Switzerland Follow this and additional works at: https://uknowledge.uky.edu/igc  Part of the Plant Sciences Commons, and the Soil Science Commons This document is available at https://uknowledge.uky.edu/igc/21/9-3/37 The 21st International Grassland Congress / 8th International Rangeland Congress took place in Hohhot, China from June 29 through July 5, 2008. Proceedings edited by Organizing Committee of 2008 IGC/IRC Conference Published by Guangdong People's Publishing House This Event is brought to you for free and open access by the Plant and Soil Sciences at UKnowledge. It has been accepted for inclusion in International Grassland Congress Proceedings by an authorized administrator of UKnowledge. For more information, please contact UKnowledge@lsv.uky.edu. 瞯 ]154　 瞯 　 Multifunctional Grasslands in a Changing World 　 Volume Ⅱ 　Grasslands/Rangelands Production Systems——— Livestock Production SystemsEffects of environmental and political framework on alpine farming and its development in theEntlebuch UNESCO Biosphere Reserve SwitzerlandP . Ho f stetter 1 ,A . Boltshauser 2 , E . Ruoss 21 A gricultural Education and Ex tension Centre (LBBZ) ,Chlosterbueel 28 ,6170 Schuep f heim ,Lucerne ,Sw itzerland2 Entlebuch UNESCO Biosphere Reserve ,Chlosterbueel 28 ,6170 Schuep f heim ,Lucerne ,Sw itz erlandE‐mail : p ius .ho f stetter＠ edulu .chKey words :mountain region ,alpine pasture ,land‐use types ,cattle farming ,Swiss Agriculture PolicyIntroduction Large areas of the Entlebuch UNESCO Biosphere Reserve ( UBE ) are dominated by a patchwork of differenthabitats . The most important one is grassland under different site conditions . It is interspersed with raised bogs ,peat bogs ,forests ,abandoned land ,unproductive land and all intermediate habitats . Most grassland is used as alpine pastures or designedas nature or landscape conservation area . The new Swiss Agriculture Policy ２０１１ ( Agrarpolitik ２０１１ ,２００７ ) supports grazingactivities in alpine regions with contributions under adverse production conditions ,hillside contributions and by allocatingpayments for cattle summering . The questions are : What is the share of each land‐use type in an average alpine farm ? How dothese subsidies influence the land‐use types and alpine farming in general ?Materials and methods The study area is situated in the northern foothills of the Swiss Alps and exposed to a sub‐oceanicclimate . The analysis of the land‐use types was taken from the cadastral register of alpine farms of Lucerne ( Hofstetter et al . ,２００６ ) and data about stocking rate come from Lawa ( ２００７) . Data about the impact of agro‐environmental policies are basing onstudies of Hofstetter et al . (２００７ ) and Caballero et al . (２００７ ) .Results and discussion In ２００５ ,７５ ％ of the １ ,０１５ mountain farms in the UBE are full‐time holdings with an area of １６ .９ ha and２５ .９ livestock units ( LU ) . ４３ .３％ of the working population is employed in the first sector ( AfS ,２００７) . Six percent of thesefarms are organic farming in comparison to the Swiss average of １０％ . Some ２０％ of the farm units also share one alpine unit ,moving animals to the latter for summer grazing . In the UBE there are ２１１ alpine farms with an average area of ５１ .１ ha . Fif ty‐nine percent of the area is pasture . The average stocking of roughage consuming livestock was ２７ LU . One hundred fif ty‐sevenalpine farms also consist of forest with an average forest area of １７ .８ ha ; ４３ alpine farms consist of ５ .２ ha mowing pasture ,３２alpine farms have forest pasture with an average size of ５ .７ ha and there are only ３１ alpine farms with unproductive land ( 饱 ２８ .７ ha) . From ２００３‐２００７ the average stocking rate of roughage consuming livestock was ８４％ of the maximum legal stockingrate . Medium‐term ,this results in a grow th of forest on bad alpine pastures . The Alpine season lasts １１１ days ,usually startingby the end of May and ending in September . Indoor‐feeding with hay or silage on low land farm is dominate during the winter .Most hay and silage come from the meadows of the owned farm allocated in the valley or the low land area . At a higher elevationfrom １ ,６００ to ２ ,０００ meters a . s . l . ,the grazing period is shorter ,up to ９０ days per season . Although the grazing season isvery short ,alpine pasturing shows important advantages . Due to the summering ,low land farms are able to keep more livestockunits . But it seems to be more difficult to get cattle for summering on alpine pastures because of the intensive breeding in thelow land . In ２００３ /０４ direct payments amounted to approximately ４５％ of the total income of the farms . The new Agriculturepolicy is implementing more direct payments on mountain farming . This will lead to an intensification of good alpine pastures ,which are also better developed ,and to an increase of the forests as described in the study by Baur et al . ( ２００７) .Conclusions Alpine pastures are a major characteristic of the cultural landscape of UBE . Cattle summering will become moredifficult . But the high subsidies will lead to an intensification of the good summering pasture . It is important to focus not onlyon single alpine pastures ,but also on the regional contex t identifying the optimal utilisation ( heifer ,fattening ,sheep ,sucklercows) and on various ecological conditions . Such regional distribution gives the chance to optimise economic benefitsconsidering ecological conditions and to implement sustainable development .ReferencesAfS ,２００７ . Statistisches Jahrbuch des Kantons Luzern ２００７ . Lucerne ,１７７‐１９３ .Agrarpolitik ２０１１ ,２００７ . Anh迸rung ,Ausführungsbestimmungen zur Agrarpolitik ２０１１ : Erstes Verordnungspaket . http :/ /www .blw .admin .ch/ themen/００００５ /０００４４ / index .html ?lang ＝ de .Baur ,P . ,Müller ,P . ,Herzog ,F . ,２００７ . Land‐use of alpine pastures is changing . Berne ,A grar Forschung １４ ( ６) : ２５４‐２５９ .Caballero R . ,Riseth J .樻 . ,Labba N . ,Tyran E . ,Musial W . ,Molik E . ,Boltshauser A . ,Hofstetter P . ,Gueydon A . ,RoederN . ,Hoffmann H . ,Moreira M .B . ,Coelho I .S . ,Brito O . ,Gil A . ,２００７ .Comparative Typology in Six European Low‐Intensity Systems of Grassland Management . Advances in Agronomy ,Volume ９６ ,２００７ ,３５１‐４２０ .Hofstetter P . ,R迸der N . ,Bergamini A . ,Boltshauser A . ,Grandchamp A .‐C . ,Keller Ch . ,Meduna E . ,Stofer S . ,Petermann R .,Ruoss E . ,Scheidegger Ch . ,２００７ . Impact of Swiss agro‐environmental policy on cattle farming and target species in theEntlebuch UNESCO Biosphere Reserve . Ghent ２００７ . Grassland Science in Europe , １２ ,４９６‐４９９ .

Effects of Environmental and Political Framework on Alpine Farming and Its Development in the Entlebuch UNESCO Biosphere Reserve Switzerland

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Effects of Environmental and Political Framework on Alpine Farming and Its Development in the Entlebuch UNESCO Biosphere Reserve Switzerland

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