Other Crops
In 1997, just over 2,400 hectares of soybeans were cultivated for oil production in Switzerland. The high quality soybean oil is processed at the refinery, and the resulting soy residues are used in animal feed. In the last few years, tobacco cultivation has continually decreased due to economic reasons. At present, around 400 farmers still grow this extremely labour-intensive crop. The majority of the tobacco-growing farms are situated in the Broye Valley. Their production covers only a very minor percentage of the tobacco consumed in Switzerland.
Field beans, protein rich peas, spinach, herbs and sunflowers are other crops cultivated in Switzerland, but make up only a small part of the total agricultural picture.