Mid-conference tours

 Established in 1927 and currently located at Agro Business Park in Wageningen. Experts will show us how they set standards in the international Agro lab community with constant innovation and developing tools to improving crop productivity, crop quality, nutritional security, and environmental sustainability. We are offered the opportunity to look inside the laboratories.

After we have been well taken care of, we continue our way to Wageningen University Campus. A guide will come on board to tell us everything about the origins and development of Wageningen University & Research.

From there, our journey continues in the beautiful surroundings of Wageningen. Wageningen is located in the Dutch river delta. The area around Wageningen was created between the two moraines Utrechtse Heuvelrug and the Veluwe under the influence of the river Rhine: ‘Het Binnenveld’. Het Binnenveld is a beautiful area between the cities Wageningen, Ede and Veenendaal that used to be dominated by hay meadows and where we find the so-called “blue grasslands”. To maintain this landscape and plant communities, Het Binnenveld is now a protected area where government, provinces, farmers, municipalities, nature conservation organisations and civilians work together to achieve this goal. We will hear about the initiative “Mooi Binnenveld” in which money was collected by crowd funding and 50 ha farming land was bought in Het Binnenveld. In the afternoon, volunteers of “Mooi Binnenveld” will guide us (on foot) through the “blue grasslands”. After that, the bus will take us back to Leeuwarden, to arrive at Dairy Campus around 19:00.

Vredo remains faithful to this principle with double discs. The focus on field results, combined with solid quality, means that Vredo’s overseeders have been used worldwide for many years. During the interactive Innovation Expedition, we will take participants into the world of Barenbrug and Vredo.

What does the Innovation Expedition look like?

In the morning, the bus departs from Leeuwarden towards a Barenbrug FIF (Forage Innovation Farm) practical farm, where a dairy farmer shares his vision. The main topic of this visit is the diverse crop rotation with grass as a base. How does the European agricultural transition at the local level fit according to the dairy farmer in his future farming operation? The farmer will guide the participants through his daily practice. What are the important choices and challenges in managing grass and legumes as the basis for a diverse crop rotation?
Second stop: the idyllic trial location in Homoet from Barenbrug. Here lies the complete European range of grass species and concepts that were sown in 2023. In 2024, these grasses, alfalfa, and clovers are in perfect condition to be felt and viewed. Barenbrug proudly shares what is happening in the Research Area in the development of grasses and legumes. Piet Arts, Global Research Director, will share his vision on Global Research within Barenbrug. Topics of conversation include Nitrogen Efficiency and DNA Technology in grass breeding.
Then the bus departs for Vredo. In Dodewaard, we will be guided through Vredo’s production location where all innovations can be admired. Here, the overseeders, self-propelled fertilizing vehicles, and sod spreaders can be examined in detail. This visit concludes with a live demonstration by Vredo. After the tour, the bus departs again towards Leeuwarden to arrive at Dairy Campus at 19:00.

These side effects partly determine the feasibility of applying climate measures. The aim is to implement area-specific measures that fit in with current land use. Innovations in the areas of water, soil, land use and integrated business operations are necessary to maintain the special character, agricultural function, and quality of life of the Frisian peat meadow area.
The Peat Meadows Program Fryslân was established to continue living, working, and recreating in the peat meadow area. The program addresses the challenges of the area based on a jointly shared vision and development of knowledge with the support of scientists and experts. They carry out various research projects together with local parties. Many of these are focused on agricultural management at a higher groundwater level. Research is also conducted into themes such as water management, soil management, nature, and cultural history. All this often happens in collaboration with residents and entrepreneurs in the areas.
During the tour, we will explore peat areas where the Frisians work on innovations for dairy farming with higher groundwater levels. In the morning, we will visit Dairy farm ‘De Gelder’. During a guided tour, we will learn about cheese: How to make it and how to taste it! After that we continue the journey to Veenpolder ‘De Hegewarren’. After a picnic, we will visit a test location to learn about how to develop flexible water levels, create a high-water farm, manage grassland, measure soil bearing capacity, growth roughage, measure greenhouse gas emissions, restore biodiversity and grow wet crops. Of course, we will have a cup of coffee at the lake site in Oudega. After that, we will go back to Leeuwarden, to arrive at Dairy Campus at 18:00.

This has created a fine-meshed pattern with a closed character. Due to its location on the border between sand and clay, the natural value and biodiversity are particularly high. The centuries-old bocage landscape with alder banks and hedgerows has remained intact and farmers maintain this special landscape. That makes it unique throughout Europe.

In this excursion we visit dairy farms with research plots in the National Landscape of the Noardlike Fryske Wâlden where native biodiversity and grass production for dairy go together successfully.
 
Farmers and private individuals are organised in an association ‘Noardlike Fryske Wâlden’ that ensures the preservation and development of this special landscape and the farmland birds through (agricultural) nature and landscape management. The association
considers attention to biodiversity and circular agriculture to be of great importance for the survival of the agricultural sector that ensures food production, employment, and the quality of life in the area. In addition, the preservation and development of the (cultural) historical value and nature of the National Landscape makes the area attractive for residents and visitors.
The morning starts with a visit to a research plot at a farm where the impact of herb-rich grasslands on local biodiversity is investigated. After a picnic, we will pay a visit to a research/demo plot at a typical dairy farm (Surhuizum) within the National Landscape, where native biodiversity and grass production for dairy go together successfully. The impact of hedgerows on soil moisture, grass production and feed quality in adjacent pasture plots are being measured over the season. From there, we will continue our way to Wâldpleats farm, where we will stay a while for coffee. At Wâldpleats farm they make local dairy products that are sold in the farm shop. From there we return to Leeuwarden with final destination Dairy Campus (18:00).

The second company is still subject to change at the moment we write this text. We hope to confirm soon. It is an international family business in the agricultural sector that also has its origins in the Netherlands. It shows impressive innovative strength in smart technologies for harvesting grass and feed provision. Additional information about this company will follow as soon as it becomes available to us.

CRV has multiple locations for each part in the process of cattle improvement. From breeding and testing to production and innovation. The heart of CRV’s Holstein breeding programme is in Wirdum in Friesland, the Netherlands. CRV’s Dairy Breeding Center (DBC) is home to some 350 young female animals with the highest genetic predisposition for health and efficiency. They have been chosen from among very best animals in the European Holstein population and are used as donors for the breeding programme. The next generation of bulls and bull dams will be selected on health, efficiency, and lifetime production, from the calves produced by their embryos. With CRV FeedExcel, CRV offers milk producers a breeding strategy promising a feed-efficient herd with higher margins and lower methane emissions.

Lely is an international family business in the agricultural sector and works incessantly on innovative solutions and targeted services for dairy farmers. It offers solutions and advice for almost all activities outside and in the barn. Lely is guided and inspired by vision and the wishes and choices of dairy farmers. Lely has been doing this since 1948: the year in which brothers Cornelis and Arij van der Lely entered the market with the rake: one of the first inventions that broke through the traditional way of working on the farm. Many more innovations followed, each with one goal: to make the lives of farmers worldwide easier and to work together towards a sustainable, profitable, and pleasant future in the agricultural sector. A current example of this is the Exos, with which Lely introduces the first autonomous solution for harvesting and feeding fresh grass.
The State of the Art Tour starts in Leeuwarden. First, we will visit CRV’s Dairy Breeding Center in Wirdum, close to Leeuwarden. After a warm welcome and introduction, you will receive an overview of the Breeding activities. This is followed by a guided tour where you can see behind glass how the animals are cared for, how roughage intake is measured, what is involved in embryo production, and how CRV combines the work with the animals and embryos at this location.
At lunchtime, the bus leaves for Noord-Holland, heading for a welcome at a modern dairy farm in Slootdorp. There, the Lely Exos will be demonstrated, the new fresh grass concept of Lely. Lely Exos is the first autonomous solution that harvests and feeds fresh grass multiple times a day, 24/7. By autonomously mowing, transporting, feeding, and fertilising grass, the Exos maximises the efficiency of the roughage from own farmland with minimal labour requirement. Then the bus goes back to Leeuwarden, via the ‘Afsluitdijk’, a 32km long dike that has been protecting large parts of the Netherlands against flooding by the sea since 1932. The tour ends at Dairy Campus (18:00).