Biodiversity, water protected
Berd Olligs has combined biodiversity and water protection with productivity on his cropping farm near Rommerskirchen in western Germany.
This holistic approach by the sixth-generation farmer came from combining his 115-hectare farm with Bayer’s Forwardfarm programme. It’s one of 22 sites around Germany where Bayer and farmers look at ways of making agriculture more sustainable.
The programme puts Olligs’ farm in the public eye and he has chosen a higher level of nature protection than what is required under the European Union’s greening laws.
The laws mean farmers have revert up to 5 per cent of their arable land back to nature. He used this law to create flowering areas and habitats for wild bees and other insects and birds.
The programme means several projects are under way at Olligs’ farm, including strategies to improve water and soil management, increasing the biodiversity and the precision use of chemical inputs.
‘‘We explain to farmers and other interested visitors how you can promote biodiversity at this site,’’ he told journalists visiting his farm during the International Federation of Agricultural Journalists’ Congress in Bonn, Germany.
The triangular-shaped 5000 square metre greening area is on the edge of Olligs’ cereal crops, so it’s easily accessible. There is also a three-metre buffer between the crop and the green area to prevent spray drift when the crops are treated.
Researcher Dr Patrick Lind said the area shifted every five years on the farm and the land reverted to cropping. Having a green zone for longer than five years risked losing the arable status of the land, meaning a financial loss for the farmer.
The zone is in its first year of a five-year cycle, although Olligs has had a green area for six years.
Lind and other scientists monitor the area, recording insects, other animal numbers and plant health.
The green area contains about 24 different species of plants that flower at various times of the year, ensuring a year-round food supply for wild bees.
Lind said there were about 250 different wild bee species in western Germany. More than half of them nested underground, so the green area included a dirt mound for bees to nest. Nesting boxes were provided for bees that nested above the ground.
So far it had been a very successful project. ’’You can see it with your own eyes,’’ he said.
The greening laws were a compromise between agriculture and the environment and the areas showed farmers examples of the usefulness of nature.
‘‘They see the butterflies and the bees moving and it’s one thing to see it in a text but it’s another thing to go outside and have a look.’’
It also presented a living environment for problem weeds to become established and monitored. ’’It is a project that tries to work along with agriculture and nature conservation.’’
Olligs also installed a phytobac system in 2012, which he believes is improving water quality. The machine biologically disposes of herbicide residue collected when farmers wash down their spraying equipment.
Bayer Cropscience’s David Lembrich said the system, which typically cost around €10,000 ($NZ15,400), allowed Olligs to dispose of 10,000 litres of wastewater a year.
The water used for cleaning is collected in buffer tanks for periodic release into a waterproof container. The cleaning water is then irrigated into a soil and straw mix sitting on top of the container, and the herbicide residue is degraded by micro-organisms.
Gerald Piddock attended the International Federation of Agricultural Journalists Congress in Bonn, Germany thanks to funding from The New Zealand Guild of Agricultural Journalists, Silver Fern Farms and Deer Industry New Zealand.