As part of the Bio Austria Bauerntage 2020, fully dedicated to the motto "Climate and Change," we attended the Bio Organic Arable Farming Day on 29 January 2020 in Puchberg near Wels. The challenges of climate change are already clearly being felt in agriculture and are having an enormous impact on the soils of our home region. For this reason, an entire day was devoted to soil management. Scientist Prof. Helga Kromp-Kolb highlighted the central role of soils as CO2 reservoirs. Climate change is a reality, and the soil and its living organisms will adapt to a certain extent. In principle, all measures that improve the soil are important.
Humus-building measures can help counteract climate change. This means the soil must be kept covered at all times – for example, by planting a cover crop after the main cereal harvest – in order to prevent erosion and the soil drying out.
Another important step is the use of our cultivation technology. We work with a shallow-tillage plough that was built specifically to meet our needs. This plough works very close to the surface so as not to bury the humus, but instead to leave it, along with the crop residues, loose and airy on the soil surface. This protects and encourages soil-dwelling organisms such as earthworms and more.
Our organic approach feels more validated than ever, and we are firmly convinced that we have chosen the right path with our organic and highly sustainable farming practices.
The afternoon was dedicated to the topic of "Digitalisation in Agriculture". Digitalisation has made its way into farming as well. New technologies were presented, including GPS-controlled machinery – this is an area brimming with innovation, and developments are far from over. The farmer, however, remains an integral part of this ongoing evolution. These new technologies make it possible to optimise field operations, saving time, fuel, and both labour and machinery costs. Who knows – perhaps one day robots will take over plant cultivation and weed management!!!
