Savings Measures: Agroscope Sharpens the Focus of its Research Portfolio
Berne, 16.06.2026 — Because of various savings measures passed by the Swiss Parliament and the Federal Council, Agroscope’s ordinary budget shows a structural deficit of around CHF 10 million. This makes a narrowing of the thematic focus of the research portfolio essential, and leads to a loss of 58 full-time positions. Even with this narrowed focus, Agroscope will remain a competent and competitive research institution for the Swiss agriculture and food sector over the long term. The site strategy for Agroscope passed by the Federal Council in May 2020 will continue to be implemented.
In view of the Swiss Confederation’s tight financial situation in recent years, the Swiss Parliament and Federal Council have passed various savings measures which have also heavily affected Agroscope. By the end of 2029, the ordinary annual budget will have been gradually reduced by around CHF 10 million compared to 2023. Given this initial situation, the relief measures taken in the previous years no longer suffice for the balanced management of Agroscope’s budget over the long term. Structural measures are imperative.
Focus on core tasks
Agroscope will reduce staff and material costs by narrowing the focus of its research topics from 2027 onwards. To do this, the Swiss federal centre of excellence for agricultural research will concentrate more heavily on its core tasks: research into primary production and into the environmental impacts of agriculture, statutory enforcement tasks and policy consultation. This narrowed focus continues to remain in line with the Federal Council’s strategies for a site-adapted agriculture and food sector, as well as with a further development of economic and environmentally sound production systems. In addition, Agroscope will continue to safeguard the genetic resources (plants, animals, microorganisms) of the Swiss agriculture and food sector for future generations.
Some research topics scaled back or abandoned completely
With this targeted narrowing of its thematic focus, Agroscope is deliberately limiting the negative impacts of the savings measures. Even so, the measures directly affect services for the agriculture and food sector. Agroscope will discontinue into the topics healthy diet and novel food products, native niche crops, herb and medicinal plants and vertical farming. Activities in other research topics will in some instances be scaled back and adjusted.
The savings measures lead to the loss of 58 full-time posts, which will as far as possible be achieved through natural fluctuations, existing vacancies and fixed-term contracts. Nevertheless, 43 employees will be affected by job elimination. The measures will be implemented according to the Swiss Confederation’s redundancy scheme.
Site strategy further implemented
In parallel with the narrowing of the thematic focus, organisational and infrastructural optimisations for further reducing costs are being examined. In addition, Agroscope will aim to exploit synergies with other research institutions. The Agroscope site strategy passed by the Federal Council in May 2020, with a central campus in Posieux (Canton of Fribourg), the research centres in Changins (Canton of Vaud) and Reckenholz (Canton of Zurich) and the various peripheral Experimental Stations will continue to be implemented.
The savings measures will have far-reaching consequences for the institution, employees and research in the Swiss agriculture and food sector. However, this essential sharpening of focus will create a solid financial basis for Agroscope’s future. The intention is for Agroscope to remain a competent and competitive research institution over the long term, capable of developing solutions for the most pressing challenges facing the Swiss agriculture and food sector.
Address for queries
Marc Andrey
Head of Communication
+41 58 466 88 62