AtlasCrop CultivationJosias Regli, Ketsia Wild, Anaelle Le Mintier de Léhélec, and Angela Thomas

For a long time, crop and soil have fostered each other in order to feed us. But the current situation in Zürich Nord shows us a different picture where the good earth, suitable for crops, is mostly used for pastures or to feed cows. Moreover the soil quality has decreased because of over fertilisation leading to soil deterioration. Our generation has to care for earth again, as a fundament for every living being.

Comparing the satellite image from 2022 with with one from 1946 taken shortly after the end of the Second World War, drastic transformations of the agricultural territory become apparent such as the change in field size: over the decades, individual small plots have been merged, and now form large fields.

Another visible change is the disappearance of orchards. Between 1950 and 1975, 11 million fruit trees were cut in Switzerland, as part of the state-organized action famously called “Baummord”, in order to solve the problem of alcohol addiction among the rural population.

In the past 70 years, the proficiency of farming saw its biggest development ever since. Whereas before the war, almost every labor (like for example plowing the soil) had to be done by hand. Nowadays, there is at least one dedicated machine for each job.

These heavy machinery and excessive tillage lead to soil compaction, a main issue that reduces the soil’s interstitial space and increases its density, limiting the absorption of water and nutrients and hindering root growth.

However, this progress has come at a cost— there is fewer people who work in agriculture and a decline in the number of farms. There is also rise of overall farm size, some now topping over the 100 ha mark. In 2021, farms had an average agricultural area of 21 ha. That is more than twice as much as in 1975. On our site in Zürich Nord, there are now only 18 farms left.

Today’s farming practice also sees the rotation of only a few main crops. These crops are corn, wheat, potatoes, oat, barley, rapeseed and sunflowers. Also, within each crop species, only a few staple species are now cultivated, which often are not even endemic to our region, endangering the survival of our domestic variety of crops.

Most land of the site nowadays is used for dairy farming and beef industry, where pastures occupy almost half of the arable area at our site.

Grains like wheat or oat possess 27% of the land. Corn, also a grain for the cattle industry, covers 11%. Next are plants for oil production like rapeseed, then, vegetables, potatoes, fruits and lastly, vineyards which only take 0.6% of the arable area. Generally, grain and vegetable fields are found in the plains around the cat lakes whereas meadows, vineyards and orchards are situated at the south facing slopes.

Two out of 18 farmers produce organically, both of them being leaseholders of the city of Zurich. This ratio stands under average with the ratio of the canton of Zurich, where 16% of all farms are organic.

The site has a variety of very local conditions, ranging from the forested north-facing slopes of the Hungerberg to marshy terrain around the cat lakes with its adjacent arable plains; and further to the gentle sun-kissed slopes rising to the forested hilltops of the Michelholz.

Looking at sun exposure, the slopes are predominately south oriented and receive a good amount of sun days, enabling even the cultivation of vines.

Most of the land on the site is very suitable, most of it ranking in the first categories in soil quality, meaning prime conditions for crop rotation. With increasing slope, the condition decreases, being more exposed to eluviation and drought, thus favoring other cultivation systems like cereal production, meadows, orchards or vineyards. In general, the soils of our site are very heavy and clayey, which is good for cultivating crops such as corn, legumes or potatoes. On the other hand, umbellifers like carrots or parsnips have a rather hard time growing.

The current agricultural practices on our site have been shaped after post-war economic models, forcing it to take a path of ever increasing profit, leaving many forms of sustainability along its way. This led to a rather one-sided form of cultivation, not making use of the potential which would be possible.

Think for example of the orchards or of the diversity of crop species in the same plant family. Think of the participation of society in agriculture which has now almost vanished completely. But it is also true that the past can also not only be seen through rosa sunglasses. Orchards were there because of a different purpose than they would be here nowadays. Also, no land was assigned to natural protection. Like today, although farms were much more diverse, the main focus of most farmers was also on the cattle industry and on dairy production.

Our site is blessed with a good amount of very fertile soil. It is really a pity to then see that most of that land is used for the alimentation of cows. The potential of the slopes and the sun should be better used which means more orchards, corn fields and vineyards on slopes, and a greater number of vegetable fields in the plains. A variety of diverse agricultural concepts can be introduced or re-introduced, where, just as an example, cattle is allowed to graze under fruit trees and hence, a mixture between different usages can occur.

In summary, the agricultural journey from post-WWII to the present reveals shifts in land use, mechanization’s impact, and challenges of intensification. Current practices raise concerns about monocultures, loss of biodiversity, and environmental threats. However, emerging trends in organic farming and innovative concepts like the Landscape Garden offer hope for sustainable and diversified agriculture in Switzerland.