On the first and second day, the official OH-FINE review meeting, followed by a general assembly was held, attended by project partners, the project officer and external experts. On both days, the focus was on reviewing the work accomplished at the end of the first reporting period, the problems encountered and overcome, and planning next steps. Furthermore, Céline Choquer, the project officer from the European Commission gave a presentation entitled 'Maximising the impact of your project'. Both days ended with a networking dinner in Basel.
Days three and four were dedicated to cross-visits, during which farmers and advisors from partner countries explored innovations and shared their knowledge. A total of 50 people travelled to the FiBL Campus in Frick. After starting the third day with a presentation about organic agriculture in Switzerland, the group was welcomed on the FiBL farm. Originally conceived to support the former agricultural school, the farm was converted to Bio Suisse organic standards in 1996 before being taken over by FiBL the following year. Today, the 31-hectare farm operates in close collaboration with FiBL's research programmes. Pascal Nägele has managed the farm since 1 January 2024. He and Meike Grosse split the group to simultaneously offer a tour to FiBL's experimental arable farming plots.
In the afternoon, the group visited the Tannenhof Möhlin, where Hans Metzger and his son David were waiting to greet the international OH-FINE partners. They have been running the farm according to organic principles with a Bio Suisse licence since 2015. They cultivate over 20 hectares of arable crops together, including winter linseed, winter rapeseed, winter wheat, soya beans and buckwheat. Their grasslands and pastures are located within ecological focus areas. The father and son guided a tour of their farm in two groups and afterwards answered any follow-up questions. The day continued with an optional city tour of Basel's Old Town and a social dinner to bring the project community together.
On the fourth and final day of the cross-visit, the group got the opportunity to see the renowned DOK trail. Established in 1978, it is the world's most important long-term field trial comparing organic and conventional farming systems. It has been jointly managed by FiBL and Agroscope ever since, with support from a farmers' advisory group. Finally, the group visited the neighbouring Birsmattehof. The farm covers an area of around 20 hectares and employs approximately 70 people. A central part of the farm is the Agrico cooperative, which has over 1,000 members and a second farming location in Germany. Since 1981, the community has been growing vegetables in accordance with the Bio Suisse guidelines. Here, Alexander Tanner and his daughter, Lara, offered two parallel farm tours.
The OH-FINE excursion concluded with a reflection session back at the FiBL Campus. Following the first project period, the network is now one step closer to achieving its goal of empowering European farmers by advancing and sharing sustainable organic farming knowledge and solutions that align with farmers' capabilities, consumer demands and evolving food market trends.
Further Information
Fibl.org: The FiBL farm
Fibl.org: The DOK trial
birsmattehof.ch: https://www.birsmattehof.ch/
Contact
For more information, please contact Laura Kemper
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