Where does our daily bread come from?

“Last year would have been extremely challenging financially if we hadn't our business hadn't been structured in such a diversified way,” says 43-year-old Vaud farmer Nicolas Pavillard. Because of the high rainfall in the spring, his wheat harvest was down by 40% on its usual level. The soil was so drenched that he couldn't drive weeding machines across his fields. He was therefore forced to look on as weeds took over, crowding out most of his wheat crop. But his business would have been even harder hit were it not so well structured.

Minimal use of chemicals

More than ten years ago, Pavillard and two neighbouring farms joined forces as the Association du Grillon in order to produce together under the guidelines of the IP-Suisse label and its signature red ladybird logo. Aside from wheat, their main product, they also grow rapeseed, sugar beet, protein peas and sunflowers. They also regularly allow grass to grow in their fields. This improves soil fertility and is a natural way of removing weeds from arable land.

Using livestock to close the loop

The abundance of grass gave the farmers the idea to buy livestock. They now keep a herd of Salers cattle - though only as many animals as their farms can feed. The calves stay with their mothers for at least ten months. The farm also keeps pigs. One major secondary benefit of livestock is that the animals provide natural fertiliser. Their manure is also used by an in-house biogas plant, which generates enough electricity to power 300 households.

Weeding by hand

The farmers grow their bread wheat without using any pesticides whatsoever. This means not only refraining from spraying pesticides to combat pests and fungal infestations – in line with IP-Suisse guidelines – but also avoiding the use of weed killer. This means much more manual labour. “We used to spend about ten hours manually controlling weeds in addition to the herbicides. Now it takes us about 500 hours,” Pavillard explains. Thanks to the IP-Suisse premium, this extra work is financially viable for the farm nonetheless.

Migros banks on IP-Suisse wheat

The premium is funded by the retail industry. Migros also values the additional environmental benefits. A hundred kilos of bread wheat currently cost about CHF 60. Migros pays an additional premium of CHF 6.35 for every 100kg of IP-Suisse wheat and CHF 10 per 100kg of pesticide-free IP-Suisse wheat. "Starting at the beginning of the value chain is good not only for the environment, but also for the quality of our flour and baked goods," says Christian Städeli, the Head of Research at the Fresh Food & Beverage Group; a Migros Industrie company.

Thanks to its 30-year collaboration with IP-Suisse, Migros was able to rely entirely on IP-Suisse wheat in 2024 for all its flours and breads bearing the two labels IP-Suisse and ‘From the region. For the region’.

Safeguards for the world of tomorrow

Taking responsibility for future generations is another reason why Pavillard and his partners go the extra mile. “We work with nature day in, day out. It’s our foundation.” Since switching to IP-Suisse, they have seen more butterflies and hares in their fields. Pavillard says that the best bit is eating a piece of bread made from his own wheat or meat from his own farm, knowing how everything is connected.