The second nationwide Organic Field Days build on the great success of the first. On July 3 and 4, more than 11,000 visitors will experience the innovative power and diversity of organic farming at the Hessian State Domain Frankenhausen, the teaching and experimental farm of the University of Kassel. The highlights of the event: machine demonstrations, new developments and prototypes in animal husbandry, plant cultivation and breeding as well as the specialist forums.
Almost 350 companies, associations and organizations presented seeds, varieties, agricultural technology, operating resources, animal feed, stable construction, advisory services and much more. The program of the Öko-Feldtage presented a mixture of practice and research and a wide range of innovations in organic farming. For example, visitors were able to get an impression of the latest agricultural technology in over 50 machine demonstrations of hoeing, harrowing, raking, GPS and camera-guided machines.
Many examples of innovation showed prototypes and new developments such as weeding robots, a solar weeding plane, a plough-mulch system and a plant-mulch machine.
The latest findings on challenges such as the climate crisis, organic breeding and animal welfare were covered in well-attended forums and discussed by scientists and practitioners. On 1,200 demo plots, companies, breeders, consultants and teachers also presented over 70 crops from field beans to sugar beet and inputs for organic farming.
Animal husbandry was another focus of the Organic Field Days: there were almost twice as many exhibitors with an animal focus, a specialist forum on barn talks and two tents where scientists and consultants presented their projects, and the number of visitors to the machine demonstrations, new developments and specialist forums was particularly high: This is where modern technology, new and traditional knowledge come together. Many camera- and GPS-guided hoes were the focus of interest. Another highlight of the Field Days were the numerous exhibitor demo plots and the national variety trials on field beans, wheat, triticale, maize and potatoes.