Arable farming field day 2021

After six months and several online meetings, the arable farming project group of the PFN Hesse met for the first time in person at this field day to get to know each other, network and discuss the joint project idea. ‘We are very pleased that face-to-face meetings are possible again, because building a network solely online cannot succeed,’ says Esther Mieves, one of the coordinators. The programme included a visit to the two PFN farms Weidehof and Hof Capelle and the ‘Humuvation’ project with a field trial at Weidehof.
Farmer and research assistant Lucas Kohl from Weidehof kicked the event off with a presentation on the initial results of the project. ‘Humuvation’ is a project funded by the European Innovation Partnership (EIP), which is based on the principle of farmers-led research and is carried out by a broad group of farmers, scientists and advisors. Using a crop rotation with wheat, maize and field beans, the effect of different catch crop mixtures and cultivation methods in terms of humus build-up, CO2 sequestration and yield will be investigated. Information, exchange and joint activities were rounded off by the presentation of a project outline, which was developed by Professor Miriam Athman and colleagues from the University of Kassel based on the farmers’ main topics. Together with the ten participants, farm managers interested in farmers-led research and the advisor Martin Trieschmann from Naturland, the project outline was discussed and the project group’s plans were further specified.