This article provides information on animal production and consumption in Switzerland.
Animal production in Switzerland covers livestock numbers (cattle, pigs, poultry, sheep), egg and milk production, and animals slaughtered for meat production.
Animal consumption in Switzerland refers to all animal products, whether locally produced or imported, consumed in Switzerland.
In 2012, the number of livestock in Switzerland was as follows:[1]
1,544,017 pigs, including 128,367 breeding sows;
1,564,631 cattle, including 705,642 cows (45.1% of all cattle);
9,878,279 hens, including 2,520,633 laying and breeding hens (25.5% of all hens) and 76,322 other poultry;
417,274 sheep;
58,031 horses and 20,140 other equines;
88,089 goats.
Livestock density is high in Switzerland. It is more than double the average livestock density in the European Union. There are 1.7 livestock units per ha of usable agricultural area in Switzerland, compared with 0.7 in the EU, 3.6 in the Netherlands, 1.9 in Denmark, 1.1 in Germany, 0.9 in Austria, 0.8 in France and Italy.[2]
Livestock meat production
In 2012, according to the Swiss meat trade association Proviande coopérative, 61,020,200 livestock were slaughtered in Switzerland, distributed as follows:[3]
In 2014, Switzerland had 29,864 people authorized to hunt, including 1,337 novice hunters in training. Of these, 14,493 hunters held a hunting license for big game and 10,415 a license for small game. Hunting is controlled by 173 permanent game wardens and 1,507 auxiliaries.
Brési, braisi, bresi, brezi, breusi, breuzil, breusil, brézot or brésat, piece of beef salted then briefly smoked for cooking or a piece of beef salted, smoked and air-dried and eaten raw, Swiss Jura, in particular the canton of Jura and Bernese Jura.
Bündner Rohschinken / Schambun criv dal Grischun, Grisons cured ham, salted and dried pork leg, Grisons
Borne ham, PDO candidate since 2006, ( Farmhouse ham, ham on the bone), smoked pork ham. An important part of Fribourg's culinary heritage, especially during the Bénichon feast. It is smoked in the "borne", a large open fireplace with a plank hood, once found on most farms in Fribourg, Canton de Fribourg and Broye vaudoise.Bacon and sausage smoking
Pancetta piana, bacon (crispy pork belly), Italian-speaking Ticino and Grisons
Pavé des Moines, Jura
Prosciutto crudo della Mesolcina, bone-in or boneless pork ham flavored with garlic, dried and smoked, Ticino
Tête marbrée in French-speaking Switzerland (Schwartenmagen in German-speaking Switzerland), also known as fromage de tête or fromage de porc, or gelée de ménage in the Jura; Produced throughout Switzerland, but the tradition of tête marbrée is particularly strong in the cantons of Jura and Vaud.
Schwinigi Stückli, smoked pork neck, with fat and bones, Appenzell hinterland (AI, AR, SG)
Violini di capra e camoscio, salted and dried goat or chamois leg or shoulder, Ticino
Sausages
Aargauer Sonntagswurst, sausage made from veal and pork, Aargau
Appenzeller Pantli (de), PGI candidate, raw garlic sausage, smoked or air-dried, made from beef, pork and bacon, AppenzellA plate of cold cuts in Ticino
Appenzeller Siedwurst (de), PGI candidate, boiled beef and pork sausage, possibly with veal, Appenzell
Chantzet, a typical Pays-d'Enhaut blood sausage made from cabbage and pork.
Appenzell sausages
Churer Beinwurst / Liongia cun ossa, raw pork sausage smoked in a bovine intestine, Grisons
Cicitt, long, thin goat sausage, Ticino
Cotechino, large cooked pork sausage, Ticino, Italian-speaking Grisons and northern Italy
Emmentaler Bauernbratwurst, Emmental farmer's roast sausage, raw sausage made from pork that has been left to mature.
Emmentalerli, smoked sausage made from beef, pork, bacon, rind and spices. Emmental and surroundings
Engadiner Hauswurst / Liongia engiadinaisa, Engadin sausage, cooked and smoked beef and pork sausage, Grisons
Frauenfelder Salzissen, boiled sausage mainly eaten hot, made from beef, pork and veal, neck fat and rind, green or brown for smoking, Frauenfeld region.Une bratwurst de Saint-Gall, une schüblig de Saint-Gall et un cervelat
Glarner Kalberwurst (de) IGP (Chalberwurscht), boiled white sausage made from veal, bacon (Wurstspeck), milk, egg, white bread and spices, Glarus
Glarner Netzbraten, sausage in the form of a "roast", cooked tied up in the oven, composed of veal and pork, bacon or rind, calf's head, water or milk and spices, Glarus
Glarner Schüblig, cooked green sausage made from beef, pork and bacon, Glarus
Gumpesel, raw sausage with a pronounced smoky taste made from pork and beef.
Hallauer Schinkenwurst, cooked and smoked sausage, mainly eaten in slices. Hallau and Canton Schaffhausen, Zurich conurbation
Kartoffelwurst / Liongia da tartuffels, potato sausage, two variants: one made from beef and pork, sometimes liver, air-dried for several weeks. It takes on a very dark color due to the blood it contains. The second is a kind of siedwurst made from ground beef, Grisons
Krakauer Wurst, sausage made from beef and pork, LucerneSalziz (Grisons)
Luganighetta, pork sausage for roasting, Italian-speaking Ticino and Grisons
Mortadella di fegato, pork liver mortadella made from pork, two versions: one to be eaten raw, the other cooked.
Ramswurst, raw smoked pork and beef sausage
Randenwurst, (red root sausage), dried sausage with red beet, from the Upper Valais.
Ajoie sausages
Salami made from beef, pork, game, etc.
Salsiz (de), air-dried pork and beef sausage, cut into thin slices and usually eaten raw, Graubünden
Dry sausages that may contain pork, beef, mutton, lamb, goat, horse or game meat seasoned with garlic, spices, wormwood, hemp, fir buds, blueberries, hazelnuts, walnuts, etc.
Valais dry sausages, dry or beef sausages or vegetable sausages, usually all three at once.
Roast sausage, Bratwurst (de) in German-speaking Switzerland, made from pork or sometimes wild boar. Stuffed into thinner casings and shaped into small sausages, it's called chipolata in French-speaking Switzerland.
Schwartenwurst, raw sausage with interrupted maturation, Berne and GrisonsWaldensian cabbage sausage
St. Gallen veal sausage, unsmoked scalded white sausage, lean meat content at least 50% veal; St. Gallen and all Switzerland (industry and butchery)
Schüblig (de) from St. Gallen, smoked boiled sausage made from beef, pork and bacon
Augustiner Schüblig, cooked red sausage made from beef, pork and bacon, similar to cervelas but larger and with coarser pieces of meat. It is red because of the color of the bath in which the intestine is immersed, Schlieren (canton of Zurich)
Bauernschüblig (Schüblig paysan, peasant sausage or a smoked sausage), raw sausages made from beef and pork that resemble gendarmes, German-speaking Switzerland (Eastern Switzerland, regions around Zurich, parts of the cantons of Aargau and Lucerne, the cantons of Basel and Bern)
Bassersdorfer Schüblig, (Schwartz Wurst), black cooked sausage made from beef, pork and bacon, similar to cervelas but larger and with coarser pieces of meat, Bassersdorf (canton of Zurich)
Toggenburger Bauernschüblig, raw peasant sausage made from cow's and pig's meat, usually eaten raw, Toggenburg
Cervelas (Stumpen) from St. Gallen, very smoky cooked sausage made from cow's and pig's meat. St. Gallen and neighboring regions of eastern Switzerland.
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