Switzerland is a country with vast areas of grassland. Grassland livestock farming systems from the lowlands to the alpine region are the Swiss agriculture and food sector’s most important basis of production as well as a defining landscape element, accounting for 80% of the utilised agricultural area.
This field of research makes a contribution to the three greatest challenges facing the agricultural sector:
- Making efficient, environmentally-sound use of the resource ‘grassland’ so that it is preserved over the long term (resource- and nature-efficiency);
- rendering grassland livestock farming systems robust and resistant to the wide range of potential influences and changes (resistance and resilience); and
- at the same time, being able to meet the growing needs of food supply and the various needs of the other ecosystem services under very different conditions, ranging from the favourable locations on the Swiss Central Plateau to alpine farms (site-adapted multifunctionality).
This gives rise to location-adapted, resource-efficient milk and meat production which provides a wide range of ecosystem services whilst being able to constantly adapt to future challenges.
