Number of Swiss farms dwindles while organic share rises

Farms in Appenzell, northeastern Switzerland Keystone/Gian Ehrenzeller

Last year there were 47,719 farms in Switzerland, 625 fewer than a year earlier. More and more farms are producing organically: their share now stands at 16.5%, and they cover a fifth of the utilised agricultural area.

In 2023, 7,896 farms were cultivating their land according to organic farming guidelines, 77 more than the previous year (1%), the Federal Statistical Office (FSO) reported on Tuesday. However, there has been a slowdown compared with the years 2019 to 2022.

The cantons of Schaffhausen (23.8%) and Geneva (17.3%) recorded a sharp rise in the number of organic farms.

Organic farmers have 190,000 hectares of farmland at their disposal, 3,700 hectares more than in 2022 (2%). This corresponds to almost a fifth (18.2%) of Switzerland’s utilised agricultural area. Organic farms are slightly larger than the average (24.1 hectares, compared with 21.8 hectares).

+ Organic farming continues to grow in Switzerland

In 2023, Switzerland’s utilised agricultural area covered 1.04 million hectares, mainly made up of natural meadows and pastures (58%) and arable land (38%). The remaining 4% is covered by vineyards and orchards.

In total, there were 47,719 farms in Switzerland in 2023, 625 fewer than in 2022 (-1.3%). The sector employed 148,900 people, a decline of 0.5% over one year. Cantons Basel City (-7.1%), Zurich (-2.1%) and Appenzell Outer Rhodes (-2.1%) recorded the biggest falls in the number of farms. Geneva (0.8%) and Nidwalden (0.3%) were the only cantons to post a slight increase.

More than one in 14 farms (7.3%) were run by a woman last year, a number that has been rising steadily over the years.

+ Female farmers caught between law and tradition

Sunflower boom

The FSO points out that there have been varying trends in crops and livestock numbers. Sunflower cultivation jumped by 21.7% to 6,400 hectares. Almost all of this was used to produce cooking oil. Soya also continued to grow (6.3%, 3,100 hectares).

The FSO also notes that the total area under cereal crops fell by 2.5% to 141,400 hectares. Not all cereals were affected by this decline, as spelt (8,500 hectares, 6.6%), oats (2,900 hectares, 2.0%) and rye (2,100 hectares, 13.8%) were all up.

+ + Why Swiss farmers are rising in protest

Poultry farming continued to grow (0.3%), mainly due to the popularity of Swiss broiler chickens (2.1%). By contrast, the number of dairy cows and pigs fell by 2% and 3.5% respectively.

Translated from French by DeepL/ts

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