Companies, associations and organizations are showing great interest in the nationwide Eco Field Days 2019. The exhibition halls are almost fully booked. The industry get-together for organic farming will take place on July 3 and 4, 2019 at the Hessische Staatsdomäne Frankenhausen, the teaching and experimental farm of the University of Kassel. The registration deadline for exhibitors is December 31, 2018.
“We are very pleased with the response so far,” says project manager Carsten Veller from FiBL Projekte GmbH, adding: “We are feeling the strong interest in organic farming and a lot of positive energy to tackle the challenges together with all exhibitors and partners.”
The Organic Field Days will showcase solutions for this. For example, a special show on electric drives and other alternatives will present prototypes and series machines that reduce climate-damaging emissions. The breeders’ conference on German Black Pied Lowland Cattle (DSN cattle) will provide information on this endangered livestock breed. In the conference tent, the topics include breeding and husbandry, stress-free handling of cows and cattle and slaughtering on pasture.
Numerous demonstration plots
On an area of two hectares, exhibitors will be showing seeds and inputs on demo plots. These include newly bred varieties that tolerate heat and water scarcity better. An area with winter wheat demonstrates the possibilities of nitrogen supply in livestock-free organic farming. “These are important building blocks on the way to adapting agriculture to the climate crisis,” says Veller. Around 200 winter crops have already been sown and the summer crops will follow in the spring. In addition, the state variety trials and the practical areas of the Frankenhausen domain will be included in the event. Visitors will be able to find out about the latest developments in breeding, plant treatment and plant protection. Two specialist forums with current topics such as piglet castration, nutrient and weed management round off the concept of the Öko-Feldtage.
The Öko-Feldtage 2019 is a platform where visitors as well as representatives of exhibitors, trade and politics can find out quickly and comprehensively about news in organic farming. “We are delighted that dennree is once again supporting us in this important project as a gold sponsor in 2019,” explains Veller.
Interested exhibitors still have until December 31, 2018 to register. For visitors who would like to travel to the Eco-Field Days 2019 in a relaxed and sustainable manner, a 2-day bus travel package from various federal states is available (registration deadline January 31, 2019).
Background
Diverse program from robots to practical research
The program of the Organic Field Days is as diverse as organic farming itself. In numerous demonstrations, farmers can see hoes, harrows, GPS and camera-guided machines in practical use. Examples of innovations will show new developments, such as weed control with robots.
Challenges such as the climate crisis, organic breeding and animal welfare will be discussed in the forum between experts from science and practice. Researchers and advisors will also present varieties adapted to new conditions and many other current research findings with strong practical relevance at the exhibition site. The state variety trials on winter wheat, winter triticale, field beans, potatoes and silage maize and the practical areas at Domäne Frankenhausen will also be included in the event.
Domäne Frankenhausen: The ideal event location
The exchange between practice and research has long been practised at the event location, the Hessian State Domain Frankenhausen. It is a teaching, research and transfer center for organic farming and sustainable regional development, but also a commercial enterprise: the domain markets milk, eggs and meat from livestock as well as carrots and potatoes, for example. Horn-bearing cows of the German Black and Tan Lowland Cattle breed are kept on the experimental farm without any problems. The milk yield and meat quality of the dual-purpose breed are just right.
Organizer & Sponsors
The strong team of partners is organizing the 2019 event in proven cooperation. FiBL Projekte GmbH is the organizer. Co-organizers are the Hessian Ministry of Agriculture and the University of Kassel with the Hessian State Domain Frankenhausen as well as the Landesbetrieb Landwirtschaft Hessen (LLH) and the Stiftung Ökologie & Landbau (SÖL). The BÖLW is the patron of the event. In 2019, the Hessian Ministry of Agriculture once again supported the event financially as part of the Eco Action Plan. The company dennree is a gold sponsor in the food retail category. Other sponsors so far are Envo-Dan and Bejo Samen.
Photo: John Deere
The Hessian State Domain Frankenhausen successfully demonstrates that it is worth keeping the dual-purpose breed German Black and Tan Lowland Cattle.