It starts in a week! At the Organic Field Days in Villmar-Aumenau from June 28 to 30, visitors can find out about organic innovations in organic plant cultivation and animal husbandry. Researchers and practitioners will discuss with politicians what organic farming now needs to grow healthily. The Hessian Minister of Agriculture Priska Hinz and the Federal Minister of Agriculture Cem Özdemir will open the Organic Field Days.
The cows moved into the new research barn just in time. “This allows us to show visitors the new technology in practice,” says Johannes Eisert, farm manager of the Hessian state domain Gladbacherhof. During lectures and guided tours, Eisert and scientists from the University of Giessen will explain how digital animal recording, grazing control and feeding and milking robotics are used to compare a high-input and a low-input dairy herd. An innovative measuring system in the automatic milking robot records the methane andCO2 emissions of each individual animal during each milking process.
Meeting point for all farmers
“The trial and demo plots are in good shape. Employees are making the final preparations in every nook and cranny. The team is eagerly awaiting the starting signal,” says Prof. Andreas Gattinger, Scientific Director of the Gladbacherhof, adding: “Together with all our partners, we are turning our farm into the central meeting point for organic farming. Here, farmers can find out about the current state of organic farming in a condensed form.”
Project manager Carsten Veller is enthusiastic about the appeal that the Organic Field Days are developing: “We are delighted that we are offering a central platform for practitioners, researchers and politicians for the many tasks and solutions in the sector. We now need to create concepts for how organic farming can achieve rapid growth without selling out its ideals – and how we can deal with the climate crisis.”
Eco-Field Days 2023 in Baden-Württemberg
Preparations are also underway for the 2023 Organic Field Days at the Grieshaber & Schmid organic farm in Ditzingen-Hirschlanden near Stuttgart from June 13-15, 2023. Outdoor areas with demonstration plots can still be registered until July 15, 2022. The registration deadline for areas without demonstration plots, machine demonstrations and stand areas in the exhibition hall is December 31, 2022.
Further information and the possibility of accreditation at www.oeko-feldtage.de
More information
We want to make the Eco-Field Days as sustainable as possible and would therefore be delighted if many visitors could contribute to this by traveling by public transport. Line 45 of the Hessische Landesbahn will take visitors to Aumenau station. From there, it is only a ten-minute walk to the event site. Those arriving by car should allow more time due to heavy traffic. The site can only be reached from the West and East parking lots with a shuttle service. A day ticket costs 19 euros and is available online.
Organic farming on 20 hectares
330 companies, associations and organizations will be presenting seeds, agricultural technology, farm inputs, animal feed, stable construction, consulting services and much more. The program of the Organic Field Days will showcase new developments in organic crop production and animal husbandry in a mixture of practice and research. Visitors can see 16 mainly camera-controlled hoeing machines as well as innovations in the fields of cupping and forage harvesting in practical use. 20 examples of innovations will show prototypes and new developments. Climate is a key topic at the Eco-Field Days 2022. Scientists will demonstrate the challenges facing agriculture and possible solutions, such as agroforestry areas and mulch vegetable cultivation, at around 20 stations.
The latest findings on challenges such as organic breeding, carbon farming and animal welfare will be addressed and discussed in six forums. Companies, breeders and consultants will also be presenting more than 120 crops and 500 varieties on numerous demo plots. Exhibitors on the topic of animal husbandry and the LLH Stable Talks forum will present themselves in the vicinity of the new research barn. Topics include intensity levels in organic milk production, 100% organic feed, livestock farming of the future and the coexistence of wolves and grazing animals. Every day, visitors can also choose from numerous guided tours on the construction of new stables, landrace trials, agroforestry, organic and green compost and fodder production.
Award ceremony by Cem Özdemir
For the first time, the award ceremony for the Federal Organic Farming Competition will take place as part of the Öko-Feldtage (June 28 from 2:00 to 4:00 pm). Federal Minister Cem Özdemir will present the award and find out about the latest developments in organic farming at the Öko-Feldtage.
Organization & organizers
The strong team of partners is organizing the 2022 event in largely proven cooperation. FiBL Projekte GmbH organizes the Organic Field Days. Co-organizers are the Hessian Ministry of Agriculture and the Justus Liebig University Giessen with the Hessian State Domain Gladbacherhof as well as the Hessian State Farm and the Foundation for Ecology and Agriculture. The BÖLW is the patron of the event. The Hessian Ministry of Agriculture will once again support the event financially in 2022 as part of the Eco Action Plan. The REWE Group is a gold sponsor of the Eco-Field Days 2022.
More than 120 crops and 500 varieties can be seen on numerous demonstration plots. Photo: Lukas Weber
The new research barn is a highlight of the Eco-Field Days. Photo: Lukas Weber
The milking robot collects a lot of data during milking. Employee Deise Knob provides reassurance during familiarization. Photo: Konrad Steinhauer