Agriculture in Sweden
It makes more economic sense to dedicate land to forestry than agriculture in the northern and mountainous parts of the country.
Sweden has quite short growing seasons in most parts of the country and that limits the species and productivity of agriculture.
Wheat, rapeseed and other oil plants, together with sugar beet are common in southern Sweden, while barley and oat are more important further north.
In the 21st century the Swedish government has committed to securing elimination of carbon emissions from the agricultural industry by 2030.
The northernmost regions are also inhabited by the Sámi peoples, whose traditional animal husbandry strengths were and are in connection with herding reindeer.
[4] Dairy farming is the largest sector in economic terms, and is responsible for 20 per cent of the value of all Swedish agricultural production.
[1] Sheep and lamb producers and wool production are not able to compete with countries (such as Australia and New Zealand) that have year-round green pastures.
The christianization of Sweden, around the year 1000, led to improvements in agriculture due to the influx of knowledge of more advanced cultivation methods from southern countries.
During the entire medieval period, monastic gardens spread knowledge of foreign plants suitable for cultivation, and of agricultural methods.
In the 16th century Gustaf Vasa took a personal interest in improvement of the royal estate, and his reign saw agriculture flourish.
This continued until the reign of Charles XII in the early 18th century, by which time wars had taken a heavy toll on the population and the cereal-producing Baltic provinces were lost.
In the wake of the Finnish War of 1808–1809, agricultural improvements received significant interest from the Swedish government and from private actors.
[10] Jordmobilisering (soil mobilization) is the term given collectively to the changes during the 19th century in Skåne (or in English Scania) in southern Sweden whereby land use became increasingly rationalised and intensive.
The higher numbers of landless labourers amounted to more than all classes of landed households, meaning that poverty caused many to move away from the countryside whether to emigrate abroad or to take employment in the towns and cities.
Whereas in the early part of the twentieth century farming powered by animals was commonplace, in the 1950s, large-scale mechanisation occurred due to cheap supplies of petrol.
By 1998 Sweden had achieved full self-sufficiency for most animal products, though around 80% of artificial feedstuffs depended on imports.
[15] Swedish agricultural cooperatives, in particular in the dairy, meat and grain sectors, during the period 1990 to 2020 experienced a need for major change by establishing mergers or alliances to form larger businesses.
[16] Very large cooperatives in Sweden have been found to reflect high levels of satisfaction with the structure and functioning of the institution.
The information from over a thousand farms is annually transmitted under obligation to the Directorate-General for Agriculture and Rural Development (DG AGRI) at the EU Commission for its purposes.
[21] There is in process of collection and updating a long time series arable statistics database JO1901 covering the years 1866 – 2020.
[22] The series indicates a progression from small-scale subsistence agriculture towards larger scale and more specialised commercial production.
Overall the areas cultivated show a decrease of 9,500 hectares from the previous year, itself a decline from the high-point of organic production in 2019.
[29] These key objectives to be supported by legislation, financial changes and education included: A Varied Agricultural Landscape, Zero Eutrophication, and A Non-Toxic Environment.
By 2007, the main impacts of concern emanating from the agricultural sector were identified as eutrophication, global warming and resource use.
Policy attention (measured by Parliamentary bills for legislation) in linking agriculture with biodiversity and toxicity issues has been considered by some to be attributable to stakeholder pressure.
[31] A study in Öland (2021) suggested that the top-down governmental control model was found alongside farmers’ belief that agriculture did not contribute to climate or environmental problems.
[35] Additionally, the Federation of Swedish Farmers (LRF) has produced sustainability targets for the industry in respect of other kinds of environmental impact.
[36] The organisation is supervised by the Ministry for Rural Affairs, which is responsible for the application by Sweden of the Common Fisheries Policy of the European Union.
Their contribution to the Swedish economy at 0.10% was limited but remained significant in terms of the livelihoods and aspect of coastal areas.
[36] Production of fish, mussels, oysters and crayfish requires a water use permit and compliance with environmental standards.
