Arable Farming Strategy 2035. Prospects for Productive and Diverse Crop Production.

The Arable Farming Strategy is intended to support farmers in the implementation of existing requirements and the further development of agricultural practice, through targeted funding, research and better practice transfer. The Strategy is drafted by considering the European law and international obligations as German arable farming is embedded in global markets and the EU is one of the largest importers of food and animal feed worldwide. The Arable Farming Strategy is medium to long term designed. The Strategy is divided into six guidelines describing the framework conditions for the sustainable orientation of arable farming and twelve fields of action with goals and measures and final input on implementation of the arable farming measures. The guidelines refer to the issues of social acceptance, caring with high quality food, feed and bio-based raw materials, securing income of farmers, protection of natural resources, preserving and promoting biodiversity in the agricultural landscape and climate protection and climate adjustment. The text further provides for overarching fields of action by referring to the requirement for minimising emissions arising from arable farming, improvement of the cultivation practices and a more scientific use of nitrogen. The text further refers to requirements for education and counselling and reducing conflicting goals.
The Strategy describes the problem areas and conflicting goals for each field of action. Goals and measures were developed as possible solutions. The following points describe the basic objectives of the fields of action: strengthen soil protection and soil fertility raise; increase crop diversity and expand crop rotations; increase fertilizer efficiency and reduce nutrient surpluses; strengthen integrated crop protection and reduce undesirable environmental impacts; develop hardy and site-adapted species and varieties; optimal use of arable potential with the help of digitization; strengthen biodiversity in the agricultural landscape; develop climate-adapted cultivation concepts; expand climate protection in arable farming and synergies to use; strengthen education and advice and achieve more appreciation for farmers.
The Strategy describes a large number of individual measures that contribute to solving the farming challenges. For the use of digitization in agriculture, the Federal Ministry of Food and Agriculture (BMEL) is promoting the creation of the legal framework and promoting the development of innovative and digital technologies. The BMEL is committed to adapting the European regulations on “New Molecular Biological Techniques” to accelerate breeding progress. With regard to biodiversity in the agricultural landscape, the BMEL is funding a nationwide monitoring of biodiversity in the agricultural landscape in order to obtain representative data. There are also plans to support the development of regional stakeholder networks from agriculture, the environment and administration to plan and implement regionally coordinated measures to the state economy. This Strategy is to be evaluated every five years and adjusted if necessary. The Strategy has 5 Sections referring to Introduction (1); Guidelines (2); Fields of Action (3); Overview (4) and Appendix (5).