After a break due to the pandemic, the DLG Feldtage trade fair has underlined its position as a leading platform for international crop production

Visitors, exhibitors and the DLG (German Agricultural Society), as organiser, are highly satisfied with the outcome of the outdoor trade fair, which took place on the fields of Kirschgartshausen, a Südzucker experimental farm near Mannheim, Germany, from 14-16 June, 2022. The event presented future strategies and solutions for the challenges of modern crop production. 

The trade fair was particularly popular among young farm managers. With international visitors coming primarily from the Netherlands, Austria, Switzerland, Lithuania, France, Poland and the Czech Republic, the event also attracted around 130 international arable journalists and agricultural bloggers, who benefitted from the overview of innovations regarded as strong drivers of the transformation of agriculture. 

Under the guiding theme My crop production. My future – the DLG Feldtage – delivered to farmers forward-looking developments in crop varieties, techniques, technologies and farm inputs that enable farms to pursue individual management strategies. Visitors expressed great interest in new seeds and varieties, crop protection and fertilisation, as well as the topic of robotics. While the ‘Field Robot Event’, an international contest for students presenting agricultural robots, demonstrated the current state of field robot research, many practical robots were also presented by exhibitors - a first at DLG-Feldtage. The machinery demonstrations held daily focused on presenting both chemical and mechanical crop protection technology.

DLG-Feldtage’s special feature ‘Organic Farming’ incorporated a wealth of relevant information. This met with great interest among attendees, as reflected in the preliminary survey results among the trade fair visitors, with nearly one in three exploring this area. 

"Exhibitors and visitors alike were highly satisfied with the DLG-Feldtage event. The DLG-Feldtage trade fair has rarely shown itself to be so diverse. It is the important information platform for the farms of the future,” said D Reinhard Grandke, CEO of the DLG.

"Younger farm managers made up more than half of the visitors. Here at the DLG-Feldtage, they were seeking strategies for arable farming and solutions for the development of their farms," he concluded.

The DLG-Feldtage 2022 was organised by the DLG jointly with co-organisers: the Ministry of Food, Rural Affairs and Consumer Protection of Baden-Württemberg; Raiffeisen Waren-Zentrale Rhein-Main eG (RWZ); Raiffeisen Waren GmbH Kassel; ZG Raiffeisen Karlsruhe; and the Vereinigte Hagelversicherung. This year's event was supported by professional organizations: the Union for the Promotion of Oil and Protein Plants (UFOP - Union zur Förderung von Oel- und Proteinpflanzen), German office for Agriculture and Food (BLE - Die Bundesanstalt für Landwirtschaft und Ernährung), Südzucker AG and the Ministry of Economics, Transport, Agriculture and Viticulture of the State of Rhineland-Palatinate (Ministerium für Wirtschaft, Verkehr, Landwirtschaft und Weinbau).

"We are very pleased. Customers are happy to be able to be out and about again and to get in touch with our consultants in person, as well as to see our varieties live in the field - not just via video and camera," said Sophie Riebeling from KWS SAAT SE & Co. KGaA.

"We are completely satisfied. The DLG-Feldtage is the industry platform, the venue that brings together all interested parties," commented Markus Röser from BASF SE Agricultural Solutions Europa Nord.

"Even if farmers or contractors are keeping themselves informed via YouTube, Facebook, LinkedIn, etc., there is still doubt: is it real what I’m seeing in the video? Trade fairs like DLG-Feldtage, where we get the opportunity to show something practical gives us a real boost," explained Phillip Kamps of AgXeed B.V.