Excursion

Excursion 1: Agroforestry in the Jura: traditional sylvopastoralism and innovative experimentations

Traditional wooden pastures are a key feature of the Jura landscape. Combining Tree and animal farming has indeed a long history in the region in association with cheesemaking in summer pastures. However, very different experimentations have developed inspired by modern agroforestry.
This excursion will allow you to explore the diversity of agroforestry practices in this region. In the morning, you will learn about the contemporary challenges of traditional sylvopastoralism management in the Franches-Montagnes. Then you will spend the afternoon in the region of Ajoie, where innovative farmers engage with agroforestry principles in animal or crop farming, sometimes in combination with fruits production, which has a long tradition in the area.

Departure: 08.30

Return: 17.00

Photo: © Jérémie_Forney

Excursion 2: From traditional chestnut groves to modern agroforestry chestnut groves

Join us on a captivating excursion that traces the journey from historic chestnut landscapes to modern agroforestry systems, highlighting the enduring role of chestnut trees in resilient agricultural practices.

The day begins in the Chablais, where participants will explore traditional chestnut groves deeply rooted in the region’s cultural and ecological heritage. A guided walk through the Clarines forest reveals impressive chestnut trees that are several centuries old. Depending on availability, the visit may also include a pilot orchard dedicated to chest-nut cultivation and propagation, showcasing trials with local varieties and innovative management approaches.

In the afternoon, the excursion continues to the farm of Walter Steiner in Montherod. This highly diversified mixed farm integrates around 300 chestnut trees within its production system and focuses on direct marketing. It offers an inspiring example of how chestnut-based agroforestry can thrive within diversified, consumer-oriented farming models.

Throughout the day, participants will also have the opportunity to discover one of the six Vaud wine regions through a wine tasting, adding a convivial and sensory dimension to this journey through landscape, history, and innovation.

Departure: 08.00

Return: 18.30

Photo: © Emilie Carrard

Excursion 3: The diversity of agroforestry systems in the Agro4esterie project

Join us for an inspiring full-day excursion exploring innovative agroforestry systems developed within the Agro4esterie project. This journey highlights how trees can be thoughtfully integrated into a wide variety of agricultural landscapes and social contexts.

The day begins at La Branche Association in Mollie-Margot, a unique farm and social institution where agroforestry meets community engagement. Here, 150 trees grow alongside more than 1,000 intercropped plants, nurtured with strong volunteer involvement. The project offers a compelling example of how agroforestry can support soil conservation, biodiversity, and local food resilience while fostering social inclusion.

Next, we visit Le Domaine du Salagon, a diverse farm combining saffron production, livestock, arable crops, and market gardening. Agroforestry systems are integrated using the Keyline method, showcasing practical approaches to water and soil management. Lunch will take place in a pleasant setting, offering time to relax and exchange with fellow participants.

In the afternoon, the excursion continues to the farm of Jean-Yves Billaud in Orzens. Participants will discover an established agroforestry plot with 120 trees and have the opportunity to observe a soil profile, offering valuable insights into below-ground processes within the system.

The day concludes at the Domaine des Prés d’Areuse, near the shores of Lake Neuchâtel. This long-established organic farm produces potatoes, walnuts, and cold-pressed oils and invites participants to enjoy a tasting of its high-quality local products, a perfect ending to a day of learning, exchange, and inspiration.

Departure: 08.00

Return: 18.00

Photo 1 and 2: © Agridea
Photo 3: © Q.Ducommun

Excursion 4: Biodiversity-Driven Farming Systems: BioDiVerger and Micro farm Praz Bonjour

The focus of this excursion is in combining farming practices with biodiversity and ecological preservation.

The BioDiVerger project was born out of a desire to innovate in today's organic orchards. The farm incorporates a wide variety of crops as well as elements designed to promote biodiversity. The idea is to reduce inputs and increase biodiversity in order to achieve a resilient ecosystem and minimize workload. The project also aims for short supply chains, with areas dedicated to self-picking. Lunch will include a wine tasting.

The afternoon is dedicated to the wild market gardening of Praz Bonjour. There is no electricity or mains water here; low-tech and resilience are the keywords. The farm is not mechanized and the soil is worked manually, with seedlings of open-pollinated varieties produced directly at the farm.

Departure: 08.30

Return: 17.30

Photo 01: © Flore Araldi
Photo 02: © Joachim Sommer

Excursion 5: From tradition to modernity: Value addition for agroforestry, practical experiences and research trial

This excursion combines traditional and modern systems that combine fruit production with animal nutrition: traditional meadow orchards, modern fruit-vegetable production and fodder hedges. A specific focus lies on the value addition for the fruit produced.

The excursion begins with a visit to the Obstgarten Farnsberg, a community-managed traditional orchard landscape where high-stem fruit trees, extensive meadows and biodiversity conservation are closely linked.
Lunch takes place at the FiBL Restaurant, with a short input and a tasting from ArboVitis and Hazelburger, innovative enterprises that transform fruit and nuts from agroforestry.

In the afternoon, the group visits the FiBL Agroforestry Demoplot, which showcases complex agroforestry systems for fruit and fodder production combined with organic crop rotations.

The excursion concludes with at the Eulenhof Möhlin, a pioneer in modern agroforestry, who integrates silvo-horticultural agroforestry system with fruit trees, berries, vegetables and biodiversity zones, alongside strong community engagement through education and community-supported agriculture.

Departure: 07.00

Return: 18.30

Photo 03: © Simona Moosmann

Excursion 6: Agroforestry and permaculture - visit of two pio-neering agroforestry sites and the HAFL permacul-ture garden and food forest

First visit is at Ueli Gassner, who has redesigned his former cherry orchard, adding a rich diversity of trees such as apples, prunes, walnuts, and alders, as well as shrubs and herbs. Between the tree rows, he cultivates various arable crops like flax and wheat.

The university of applied science in Agricultural, Forest and Food Science was the first university in Switzerland to offer permaculture classes in their curriculum and the first and only to establish a food forest at their location which is legally on the forestry territory. A visit shows elements designed for the plants to make optimal use of the available resources of light, water, and nutrients in the soil.

Afterwards, at the Gerbehof, we will see arable crops in between agroforestry key line systems, to allow for an optimized water management. As well, the aim is to reduce the weight of the machines used.The creation of permanently grassed tracks enables them to drive over the soil in a gentle manner.

Departure: 09.00

Return: 18.00

Photo 03: © Arztmann

Excursion 7: Hedgerows for ramial wood chips and forage pro-duction

At the Agroscope site of Nyon, an experimental trial will be visited where willow hedges have been installed in 2023 to create an alley-cropping system for the production of ramial wood chips.
In addition to study the cropping system, the goal of the trial is also to test the effect of different levels of ramial wood chips on crop yield and soil quality. Lunch includes a wine tasting of Agroscope wines.

The afternoon looks at Agroforestry for forage production at the Farm of Montelly in Crassier. Thibault Melly practices organic farming and produces milk with 60 dairy cows, as well as eggs and honey. In the frame of the AgroForageTree project, fodder tree hedgerows have been planted to produce supplementary forage resources in summer. During the visit, the first results of the project will be presented, including the forage yield and nutritive value of the leaves for six tree species, as well as their digestibility and palatability in ruminants.

Departure: 08.30

Return: 17.00

Excursion 8: Modern Vitiforestry – Newly Planted Systems & Scientific Approaches

Vines, as original forest plants, are an interesting addition to trees.
We start the day at the Domaine Les Dryades, where we learn about their deeply held ecological principles. In addition to wine grapes, André Bélard grows a wide diversity of fruits, herbs, and vegetables. He has established a diversified vitiforestry system inspired by concepts from syntropic agriculture, adapting them to the traditional Swiss wine-growing landscape.

Lunch includes a wine tasting and in the afternoon, a 13-year-old vitiforestry vineyard in Bremblens by Jonathan Barilier, featuring Salix (willow) trees integrated directly into the vine rows. This stop provides a valuable comparison between young and established systems.

We continue the day with a visit to Yann Morel’s newly planted vitiforestry parcel. The site offers insight into the establishment phase of modern vine–tree systems and the scientific considerations behind their design. Trees such as vine peach are used to propose additional products to consumers.

Departure: 08.00

Return: 17.30

Excursion 9: Silvopastoral and silvoarable systems combined with water management, value chain development, and alternative financing models

This field trip presents silvoarable and silvopastoral agroforestry systems in the Solothurn/Bern region, northeast of Lake Neuchâtel, with a focus on water management, animal husbandry, direct marketing, and on-farm value creation. All participating farms are part of the climate protection programme run by SilvoCultura and myclimate, which supports agroforestry establishment through investment and advisory funding and is currently implemented on around 250 farms in Switzerland, Germany, Austria, and Liechtenstein.

The excursion begins at Chriebenhof in Aetigkofen, where a silvopastoral system with fodder hedges and high-value timber trees has been established on pasture using a keyline design to improve grazing management and water retention. A key focus was on a well-functioning fencing system to protect the young fodder hedges on the pasture and to enable optimal grazing management.

At Farngut, a nearby highly diversified farm, agroforestry is combined with strip cropping, permaculture elements, fixed-track systems in vegetables, direct marketing, and on-farm processing. The farm is also working intensively on mechanical solutions for managing complex systems.

In the afternoon, the tour continues at the Zimmermann organic farm in Küttigkofen, a mixed farm with cattle and free-range pigs maintaining traditional agroforestry systems with fruit and wild fruit trees. As far as possible, they sell their products directly in their own farm shop. Many of the farm's products are sold there unpackaged.

The visit concludes at the Bögli farm, where a young organically managed agroforestry system established in 2024 demonstrates the integration of trees into arable cropping systems, cobining trees with grain, potatoes, borlotti beans, and broomcorn millet.

Departure: 08.30

Return: 17.30

Excursion

Excursions take place on Wednesday 24.06.2026