Author:Jean-Claude Hiron

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All articles by Jean-Claude Hiron:

Infographic: Bees and Pollination

Bees are important for the environment and for crop yields. But how important are they for the global food supply? Here we present an overview of the diversity of these insects and their role in crop production.

Ideas For Healthy Bees

Bees are important for the environment and for crop production. However, agriculture is often blamed for a decline in bee numbers. But there are several initiatives in the agricultural sector to counteract the death of bees. We took a closer look at some of them.

Infographic: Paths to climate-neutral production

Agricultural has a stake in climate change, and at the same time the soil is a powerful tool against warming. This will lead to new regulations for farms - and hopefully new opportunities.

Recognising the value of humus

Field crops are gaining recognition because of the important climate benefit they offer: Storing carbon in the soil by increasing its organic matter content. This creates new expectations of agriculture, but also new opportunities. Visit to a French farmer who markets his CO₂ storage.

Precision Farming

Interactive infographic: Precision farming is picking up speed!

Agriculture is generating more and more data, and more and more farmers are engaging in precision farming. Insightful facts and figures on the topic of digitalisation.

Precision FarmingServices

Dealerships and contractors:
A strong team

Introducing precision technologies into day to day farming practice can be a challenge. However, no one needs to start out alone. We place the spotlight on two stakeholders in the green sector, who are playing a central role in the adoption of digital agriculture: Dealerships and agricultural contractors.

Precision Farming

“Fertiliser should ideally be 100% effective.”

Agricultural contractor AIS Schier has been focusing on core fertiliser and lime applications for many years. General manager Holger Schier describes how they even out the pH value of a field and why this approach is a good starting point for precision agriculture.

Harvesting metal with plants

Some plants absorb the metal in impressive quantities. In certain cases, this phytoextraction can be put to good use.

“Producers gain power over their decision making”

How to get started with precision farming, and how quickly does it spread in practice? An interview with Peer Leithold, the managing director of Agricon, a consulting firm he founded in 1997.

Precision Farming

Controlling precision weeding with the Operation Centre

The cloud-based Operations Centre offers solid base functionalities plus more than 180 third-party software products to serve special requirements. In the South West of France, one farmer has put this feature to the test.

Precision Farming: How it works

Variable rate application can now be used in almost all work areas. However, the focus is not on tools, but on the agricultural goal. Here is a current overview of data sources and their practical use.

Precision Farming

Getting into precision farming

Precision farming can make farms more efficient, sustainable and economic. But with the multitude of possibilities, the question often arises: "Where to start? We show examples of three farmers who have dared to take this step and tell you how they did.

Nemo’s Garden

The US firm Ocean Reef is experimenting with underwater cultivation in the Italian Riviera. The goal of the project is to develop a technique for using the ocean for irrigation in arid regions.

Enough water – longer dry phases

Water is one of the essential foundations of agriculture. How will its availability in Europe develop in the future? Our infographics provide an overview.

“Climate adaptation will be an ongoing process.”

The European LIFE "AgriAdapt" project has been working on the topic of climate adaptation for four years. Patrick Trötschler from the German project partner “Bodensee-Stiftung” speaks about the prospects in the cultivation sector and efficient drought prevention.

Storing water to cope with droughts

Farmers in Sweden, France and Germany are striving to retain water when there is plenty available so they can use it during dry summer months. Water is stored in ponds, marshes, or in the ground. The Furrow reports.

Self-fertilising maize

In southern Mexico, researchers have discovered giant maize with astonishing properties. Other varieties can benefit from this.

Infographics: Protein in Europe

The autonomy level of European animal husbandry varies depending on the protein group. Fact is: Europe will remain dependent on imports. However, in the long term, breeding and technical advances will increase independence. See our interactive graphics to find out what is happening where.

Interview: Using more home-grown sources of protein.

Alexander Döring, secretary general of FEFAC (the European Feed Manufacturers’ Federation), on reducing the protein gap.

Protein in Europe: is it enough?

Making Europe less dependent on imports of protein raw materials is a challenge for the future. We meet two producers who are doing their bit to improve Europe’s protein production.

Neighbourhood: cultivating a good relationship

The countryside is a space to live and to work. And thus often an arena of conflicts of how to use that space. A challenge that needs to be tackled by farmers themselves.

Soil Compaction:
Facts and Figures

It is particularly hard to assess the damage caused by compaction in deeper soil layers. But research data and statistics indicate a considerable impact on agricultural productivity.

Simulating the future

Researcher Andrew Leakey is simulating atmospheric conditions for the next half of the century. The data obtained is supposed to mitigate the consequences of climate change.

Soil under pressure

Soil compaction is a well-known problem, but its impact is often underestimated and difficult to assess. And it is a growing concern for farming stakeholders.

Farmers as trade experts

Fresh players in the market and new factors influencing pricing mean grain prices are fluctuating significantly more than in the past. When selling their grain, farmers therefore need to focus on good risk management.

Grazing management in the spotlight

Milk producers are under pressure from persistently low producer prices. At the same time, demand for more natural foods is rising. One solution could be to focus more on grazing management. But just "opening the cowshed door and let the cows out" is not enough.

Hidden Hunger

There are many types of hunger. If we want to feed the world, we should not only pay attention to the quantity but also to the quality of food.

Author:Jean-Claude Hiron

All arti­cles by Jean-Claude Hiron:

Author:
Jean-Claude Hiron

All articles by Jean-Claude Hiron: