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Sustainability

Bodenverdichtung

How does compacted soil recover?

It takes mere seconds to compact a soil, but years or even decades for it to recover. Biological activities by plant roots and soil organisms (earthworms) as well as physical effects like drying out and rewetting phases, and freezing-thawing cycles are vital for natural regeneration. Exactly how recovery happens is being investigated in a long-term field trial. For this, an observational infrastructure with hundreds of soil probes – the Soil Structure Observatory (SSO) – was set up in 2014 together with ETH Zurich. After the initial compaction event, a fallow, a permanent grassland and a crop rotation with and without tillage were set up. This allows to analyse e.g. the influence of plants and tillage on recovery.

Bodenfruchtbarkeit und Bodenschutz
SoilStructureObservatory
Regeneration verdichteter Böden

Publikation Arbeitshaltung Melken

Ergonomics in the milking parlour

Milkers frequently suffer from musculoskeletal disorders, especially in the area of the shoulders and arms.  Agroscope therefore investigated whether appropriate working heights can reduce workload in the milking parlour. For this, the angle of flexion of various joints during milking was recorded in one experiment, whilst a second experiment recorded muscle contractions at three different heights. The study showed that although a lower working height in the milking parlour has no effect on forearms or upper arms, it significantly reduces strain on the shoulders. 

Numéro du projet: 22.12.20.01.01

Dynamique du travail agricole - une intégration des aspects sociaux et de science du travail

Das Projekt verknüpft klassische arbeitswissenschaftliche Studien mit sozioökonomischer Forschung, die den Bogen von der Situation von Fremdarbeitskräften bis hin zu neuartigen Projekten im urbanen Raum spannen.

Im aktuellen Arbeitsprogramm fokussiert sich die soziologische Forschung bei Agroscope auf unterschiedliche Facetten landwirtschaftlicher Arbeit. Dabei werden auch Planungsinstrumente wie die Definition von Standardarbeitskräften auf die Probe gestellt. Neben der ökologischen Dimension steht vor allem auch die soziale Situation der Arbeitskräfte im Mittelpunkt. Das schliesst Familienarbeitskräfte, Fremdarbeitskräfte und neue institutionelle Formen urbaner Landwirtschaft ein.

Nom, Prénom Site
Ehlers Melf-Hinrich Tänikon
Heitkämper Katja Tänikon
Mann Stefan Tänikon
Mielewczik Michael Tänikon
Reissig Linda Tänikon
Roesch Andreas Reckenholz
Saleh Rita Tänikon
Zimmert Franziska Tänikon

Kaiser A.
Transitioning to low-pesticide agriculture: Practices, discourses, and policies.
Ed. Universität Basel, 2024, 113 pp.

Nelson I., Faxon H., Ehlers M.-H.
Feminist political ecologies of agrarian technologies: Knowing the digital differently.
The Journal of Peasant Studies, In Press, 2024, 1-28.

Kaiser A., Samuel R., Burger P.
Toward a low-pesticide agriculture: bridging practice theory and social-psychological concepts to analyze farmers’ routines.
Sustainability: Science, Practice and Policy, 20, (1), 2024, 1-20.

Krikser T., Ehlers M.-H., Profeta A.
Municipal heat provision experiences and expectations in Germany.
Energy, Sustainability and Society, 14, (4), 2024, 1-12.

Saleh R., El Benni N., Masson S., Ammann J.
Public acceptance and sustainability perceptions of food produced with chemical, digital and mechanical weed control measures.
Food Quality and Preference, In Press, 2023, 1-25.

Saleh R., Ehlers M.-H.
Exploring farmers’ perceptions of social sustainability.
Environment, Development and Sustainability, In Press, 2023, 1-26.

Saleh R.
La durabilité sociale du point de vue des agriculteurs et agricultrices.
Ed. Office fédéral de l'agriculture OFAG, 2023, 3 pp.
autres langues: allemand | italien

Mann S.
Angestellte in der Schweizer Landwirtschaft: Lohn und Freundlichkeit gleichermassen entscheidend.
UFA-Revue, 10, 2023, 23-26.

Mann S., Bobeică M., Beciu S., Arghiroiu G. A.
Is there a food waste Kuznet curve?: Some evidence from China, Romania and Switzerland.
Environmental Protection Research, 3, (2), 2023, 230-239.

Mann S.
Fünf Franken für den Liter Milch.
Der Schweizer Bauer, 2023.

Mann S., Arghiroiu G. A.
Sustainable food as a three-dimensional system.
Scientific Paper Series: Management, Economic Engineering in Agriculture and Rural Development, 23, (3), 2023, 491-500.

Heitkämper K.
Arbeitsvoranschlag 2023 und Mechanisierungsstufen in den arbeitswirtschaftlichen Tools von Agroscope.
Dans: 46. Agrarökonomie-Tagung. 21. November, Ed. Agroscope, Tänikon (CH). 2023, 1-19.

Reissig L.
Psychological factors influencing the adoptation of digital technologies in agriculture by farm managers.
Dans: Conférence ESRS European Society for Rural Sociology. 4 July, Rennes. 2023, 1-14.

Mann S., Loginova D.
Distinguishing inter- and pangenerational food trends.
Agricultural and Food Economics, 11, 2023, 1-18.

Biswas A., Afrad M.S.I., Hoque M. Z., Al Mamun A., Habib M. A., Nayak S., Islam S., Nuruzzaman, Mann S.
Rice variety preferences in Bangladesh: What is the role of public breeders?
Asian Journal of Agricultural Extension, Economics & Sociology, 41, (5), 2023, 152-164.

Reissig L., Cockburn M.
Neuer Rohstoff aus der Landwirtschaft.
Schweizer Bauer, 20. Mai, 2023, 4.

Mann S., Kaiser A.
Why is agricultural policy not more environmentally ambitious? Comparing failed attempts in Switzerland.
Resources, Environment and Sustainability, 11, 2023, 1-7.

Kimmich C., Ehlers M.-H., Kellner E., Oberlack C., Thiel A., Villamayor-Tomas S.
Networks of action situations in social–ecological systems: Current approaches and potential futures.
Sustainability Science, 18, 2023, 1-10.

Mann S.
Postletale Landwirtschaft: Zur anstehenden Reform unseres Agrarsystems.
Springer VS Wiesbaden. 7. Juli, 2022, 126 pp.

Glück S., Heitkämper K.
Arbeiten mit digitalen Technologien: Eine Fallstudie am Beispiel von sensor- und kameragesteuertem Hacken im Gemüsebau.
Dans: 23. Arbeitswissenschaftliches Kolloquium: Arbeit unter einem D-A-CH - Der Landwirt im 4.0-Modus. März, Ed. Leibniz-Institut für Agrartechnik und Bioökonomie e.V., D-14469 Potsdam. 2022, 122-131.

Loginova D., Mann S.
Institutional contributions to agricultural producer price stability.
Agricultural and Food Economics, 10, (12), 2022, 1-22.

Ehlers M.-H.
Soziale Nachhaltigkeit aus Sicht der Landwirtinnen und Landwirte.
Dans: 45. Agrarökonomie-Tagung. 4. Oktober, Ed. Agroscope, Tänikon - Agroscope. 2022, 1-14.

Mielewczik M., Heitkämper K., Bozzolini G., Groher T., Umstätter C.
Von manuell bis automatisch - Die Bandbreite des Mechanisierungsgrades am Beispiel der Schweizer Rindviehhaltung.
Dans: Arbeit unter einem D-A-CH: Der Landwirt im 4.0-Modus. 8./9. März 2022 Potsdam. 23. Arbeitswissenschaftliches Kolloquium.. 8./9. März, Ed. Leibniz-Institut für Agrartechnik und Bioökonomie e.V., Redaktion Martina Jakob, 2022, 63-78.
autres langues: anglais

Umstätter Ch., Mann S., Werner J.
A simple measure for workload as a social sustainability indicator for family farms.
Environmental and Sustainability Indicators, (14), 2022, 1-9.

Mann S.
Why governments should tax animal production: A system approach to internalize the externalities of agriculture.
International Journal of Sustainable Economics, 14, (3), 2022, 294-308.

Hart L., Quendler E., Umstaetter C.
Sociotechnological sustainability in pasture management: Labor input and optimization potential of smart tools to measure herbage mass and quality.
Sustainability, 14, (12), 2022, 1-23.

Sgouridis S., Kimmich C., Solé J., Černý M., Ehlers M.-H., Kerschner C.
Visions before models: The ethos of energy modeling in an era of transition.
Energy Research and Social Science, 88, (June), 2022, 1-15.

Ehlers M.-H., Finger R., El Benni N., Gocht A., Sørensen C. A. G., Gusset M., Pfeifer C., Poppe K., Regan A., Rose D. C., Wolfert S., Huber R.
Scenarios for European agricultural policymaking in the era of digitalisation.
Agricultural Systems, 196, 2022, 1-14.

Ehlers M.-H.
Digitalisierung der Agrarumweltpolitik.
Dans: 44. Agrarökonomie-Tagung Agroscope. 05. Oktober, Tänikon - Agroscope. 2022.

Rinder Fuetterung

Optimised feed reduces environmental impacts

On behalf of Micarna SA, Agroscope analysed the environmental impacts of beef, pork and poultry production. With beef production, feed intensity was crucial. In the case of pork and poultry production, the quantity of feed used per kg of meat had the greatest influence on environmental impacts. The use of European soya with its shorter transport distances had a positive effect. 

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