Many farmers in Germany have long been feeling the effects of climate change in their fields. There is less rain, summers are getting hotter and harvests are falling short of expectations. In addition, there are new political requirements and higher demands on environmental and soil protection. But which crop rotation protects the soil best? Is different fertilization worthwhile? Researchers at the Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research (UFZ) in Leipzig have developed a free online tool to help answer such questions.
Soil knowledge for agriculture
Farmers select their arable land on an interactive map. The tool then combines this with local weather data from the German Weather Service and existing soil information. Users can then run through various scenarios: What happens if I grow a different type of crop? What if I fertilize less? How will my soil change in drier summers?"
The result shows, for example, how the harvest, carbon storage, water storage or nutrient losses would change. It is also possible to estimate how efficiently nutrients such as nitrogen are retained in the soil. "The tool also provides farmers with important soil knowledge that many have not been taught in detail in their training," says Wollschläger.
Commonly developed, free to use
However, there are also clear limitations. The tool does not give exact figures for the future. For example, it cannot predict exactly how much carbon will be stored in the soil in 30 years' time. It shows directions. "We recommend using scenarios for at least two crop rotations in order to identify trends," explains König. A crop rotation describes which plants are grown in which order on a field, usually over several years.
The tool is available free of charge. BODIUM4Farmers was developed together with farmers in workshops. The first farms are currently using the program and providing feedback so that it can be further improved. In the future, it should also be usable for farms throughout Europe.
