Spatial expansion of farm types and neighborhood influence – conversions to suckler cow farms in Switzerland

Since the introduction of direct payments for non-dairy ruminants including suckler cows in 1999, the number of specialized suckler cow farms in Switzerland has seen a significant increase. This paper explains the farm conversions to accommodate suckler cows, specifically taking into account neighborhood influences in traditional and non-traditional suckler cow regions. In the interests of achieving a better understanding of the dynamics of production decisions, the analysis takes into account different time periods. As far as changes in production were concerned, a positive neighborhood influence could be confirmed only for the time periods soon after the political change and for regions where the production technologies were not well-established. The results provide evidence that, from a sociological point of view, neighborhood influence based on uncertainty plays a specific role. For all regions and cantons, a persistent neighborhood influence prior to the later adoption periods could not be verified, which indicates that economic advantages based on the agglomeration of infrastructure and services for suckler cow production were not developed. The results show that the main driving forces for production changes and for the spatial distribution of suckler cow farms were structural conditions at farm level.