Sustainable milk production

Dairy farming is the most important sector of Swiss agriculture. Economically viable and environmentally friendly, milk production is essential to ensuring the sustainable development of the Swiss food supply chain. Yet we know very little about the relationship between the economic and the environmental performance of farms. The aim of this project is therefore to improve our understanding of the relationship between these two aspects of farm sustainability, using the example of Swiss dairy farms in mountain regions.

The main objective is to improve our understanding of the relationship between the economic and the environmental performance of Swiss dairy farms in mountain regions. More specifically, the project aims to:

• provide a frame of reference for measuring a farm’s environmental performance;
• analyse synergies and conflicts in the promotion of the economic and environmental performance of Swiss dairy farms in mountain regions;
• identify the practices associated with good economic and environmental performance;
• show how farms can, in practice, improve their economic and environmental performance; and
• test the feasibility of implementing these recommendations with farm managers.

The work will provide a framework for measuring a farm’s environmental performance and help clarify uncertainty in this area. In addition, it will generate unprecedented knowledge on the relationship between the environmental and the economic performance of dairy farms. This knowledge will be useful not only for the agricultural community and the scientific community, but also for policy makers when designing future agricultural policies.

ECON'ENTAL – Learning from the best: a benchmarking approach to the improvement of the economic and environmental sustainability of Swiss dairy farms