Production Blog

Putting Ecology to Work, But Weather Still the Master

Six generations of farming keeps Bernd Olligs looking for ways to make Daminshof Farm more sustainable near Monheim, Germany. (DTN photo by Pamela Smith)

ROMMERSKIRCHEN, Germany (DTN) -- When your farm dates back to 1854, one might be tempted to take it for granted. Not Bernd Olligs.

Olligs met with reporters from around the world Sept. 4 who had come to Germany to attend Bayer CropScience's Annual Press Conference. The formal meetings take place Thursday, but first, the press was encouraged to kick some tires and learn more about farming in Germany.

Olligs' message was one of stewardship and sustainability. Those big words often find their way into speeches these days. However, this farmer has concrete proof he's trying ecologically sound practices.

Like many other farms, Olligs uses plant protection products to care for the potatoes, sugar beets, winter wheat, barley, oilseed, rape and corn he grows on 114 hectares near Monheim, Germany. Like many farmers, he traditionally cleaned spraying equipment in the field after use.

Today, spray effluent gets filtered through a bioremediation system called Phytobac. Inspired by the French and Swedish concept of biobeds, the system is a structure built around the ideas of using soil for purification.

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Rinse water is collected and degraded using natural materials in a closed system. The installation includes a sprayer filling and rinsing area.

In 2010, Olligs' Daminshof Farm began to look at such ecological improvements as part of the Bayer Forward Farming sustainability program. As part of that program, he's gotten a handle on soil erosion in potatoes by using a cross-border tillage tool that creates ridges and dams in a single pass.

The all-in-one tillage technology helps save water, and by eliminating a cultivation pass it also helps minimize the risk of erosion and chemical runoff.

Biodiversity is top of mind, too. Flowering strips are used to improve the habitat for beneficial pollinators, including wild bees and honey bees. However, Olligs has learned the strips must be managed as a crop or weeds become very problematic. A wild bee hotel has been set up on one part of the farm.

Bird species, specifically the skylark, have been losing habitat. Olligs is among farmers testing strips left in the middle of the field to encourage birds to nest.

Still, like most farmers, Olligs worries about the weather. "The farmer can only do small steps, the weather conditions are very important," he said. "We have had a lot of luck, because it was a very cold spring and that was very nice for winter wheat. However, that's not so lucky for rapeseed and we are harvesting about one ton less than last year." He said they are harvesting about 4.2 tons per hectare of rapeseed this year.

"At the moment, it is very dry here in this region. The last few months we've had little rain and we have bad conditions for potatoes."

Pamela Smith can be reached at Pamela.smith@telventdtn.com

(CZ)

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