Environmental and climate protection measures in arable farming
The current "Chart of the Month" from DLG-Agrifuture Insights shows how arable farmers are dealing with the challenges posed by changing cultivation conditions due to climate change.
Environmental and climate protection measures as well as adaptations to changing production conditions are becoming immensely important in view of the increasingly evident consequences of climate change. Heat records and severe weather events are on the rise, leading to uncertainties in crop yields and quality.
Chart of the Month
Environmental and climate protection measures in arable farming
In a short survey conducted in August, 64% of the arable farmers surveyed stated that they see the greatest challenges in the next two years in the changed cultivation conditions caused by climate change. For example, 70% of those surveyed in winter 2022/23 stated that they had implemented an extended crop rotation as an environmental and climate protection measure. A further 20% plan to do so.
Around 40% of the participating farms intend to compensate an upcoming rise of production costs due to climate protection measures by making savings through more efficient labour and the site-specific use of farm inputs. Resource efficiency in particular is a good way of doing something to protect the environment and at the same time reduce the economic burden on the farm.
Additionally, the site-specific and thus reduced use of fertilisers and pesticides is one way of countering the increasing regulations imposed by politicians and authorities.
In the area of water management, 33% of respondents have already taken measures and 40% of participants are planning to take action in this area. In view of record heatwaves and droughts, this area is becoming increasingly important.
DLG-Agrifuture Insights – a comprehensive view on agricultural development
DLG-Agrifuture Insights is the DLG knowledge brand and platform for international trend analyses in the agricultural sector. It examines the business environment in agriculture in Germany and worldwide. For this purpose, farmers and people from agribusiness, science and consulting are surveyed annually on their assessments of the economic situation and development of agricultural businesses, as well as technology trends and innovations in the individual business sectors. A total of 4,183 people took part in the current survey in winter 2022/23, around 1,500 of them from abroad.