At the beginning of March 2025, representatives of the research sites in Brandenburg came together for their annual meeting. They represented scientific institutes that have land on which agricultural research is conducted. At the fourth meeting, Benjamin Trost, head of the Fieldlab for Digital Agriculture, welcomed his colleagues to Potsdam-Marquardt.

Brandenburg is home to a large number of research institutes. With around 20 federal and state institutes, as well as universities and official institutions, the density of scientific institutions dealing closely with agriculture is correspondingly high – a special feature compared to other federal states. For this reason, it is worth networking the different research sites. The aim of these regular meetings is to promote intensive professional and personal exchange, as well as a tour through the host's fields, in order to get to know the host's innovative research and experiments and to discuss agricultural technology and current climate conditions.

Field days in Brandenburg: bundled agricultural knowledge

The main topics of the discussion rounds were the collaboration at field days, where research results are to be passed on to agricultural practitioners. Such practical events bring farmers and researchers into conversation, promote the exchange of ideas and occasionally even initiate co-creative research projects. To make the many field days in Brandenburg better known to farmers, the scientific representatives have been bundling the dates in a field day flyer for several years.

Another topic of the meeting was scientific articles with the latest research results. The 15 participants agreed to publish joint texts on current projects and experiments on field robotics and technology, in particular for the targeted, selective application of pesticides. These topics are of interest to farmers, among other things, because active ingredients are increasingly disappearing from the market.

Read more about our last field day at ATB here.

Research sites are being modernised

The topic of technical equipment was discussed in more detail. As is usual with other research infrastructures, the experimental stations could cooperate with other institutes on agricultural technology that they do not have themselves. The representatives have already created the initial conditions for this.

In fact, some of the institutes have also been pleased with the new technology that they have been able to purchase in recent months. In addition, various institutions have seen their buildings, greenhouses and equipment modernised. These are important prerequisites for successful and modern agricultural research.

The coordination office at the Institute for Food and Environmental Research (ILU) hosted the meeting. Its main task is the transfer of knowledge between research and practice, as well as the networking of the industry. The coordination office was founded in April 2020 and is funded by the Ministry of Agriculture and Food, Environment and Consumer Protection (MLEUV) of the State of Brandenburg.