The French living lab is taking place in the north-east of France, close to three European borders: Belgium, Switzerland and Luxembourg. It is the first French region for cereal and oilseed production and there is the port of Metz, which opens up major export opportunities.
Fifteen farmers are actively engaged in the living lab: three are in a crop-livestock system, seven in a crop system and five in organic farming. The central theme that brings them together is paying attention to the soil in order to grow crops more efficiently and avoid waste nitrogen. Covering the soil as much as possible, avoid tillage and direct sowing, are different levers used to improve the crop nutrition and limitate weeds. Some of them are more interested in the topic of crop establishment, with the aim of facilitating and speeding up the emergence phase. Weeds are also a significant problem, particularly blackgrass, dock and thistles. The 3 topics of SIMONE’s project are worked in this living lab.
From top to the bottom
Farmers experiment with different species of cover crop, testing different sowing dates and technique, with or without fertilisation. Others are experimenting with permanent cover crops, such as white or red clover, or with crop associations, such as rapeseed with faba beans. Legumes are at the heart of the 15 farmers' nutritional crop management. They also test biostimulants or fertilisers in the seedbed, as well as nitrogen modulation according to soil restoration and the needs of the crop.
Some of these agroecological measures help to prevent nitrogen leaching in winter. This is a major issue for water board agencies in the living lab region. This is why Water Board Rhin Meuse is included as a stakeholder in the living lab, alongside the Regional Directorate for Food, Agriculture and Forestry and an environmental association: CPIE de Meuse and the Meuse department. So, the full Living Lab comprises 26 people from the top of the farming chain to the bottom.
5 indicators
Together, they have defined the key farming performance indicators for the Grand Est area. Specifically, the French Living Lab will focus on 5 indicators: improving economic performance, reducing labour time and greenhouse gas emissions, and enhancing soil fertility and biodiversity. They also want to consider the quality of the finished products to raise consumer awareness of their work and good farming practices.
Sharing knowledge
The main reason the 15 farmers are participating in this project is to share knowledge and feedback to each other. This willingness to exchange information takes place not only within the French living lab, but also with the other five living labs. They want to quantify the economic impact of their agroecological practices on the cropping system, which they have been testing for a long time, but alone and with only a visual result. The heart of their expectations for the project are seeing new techniques, getting new ideas and becoming more confident in their farming choices.
Discover the factsheets for each on-farm experiment in our French Living Lab
More detailed information about each OFE can also be found in our specially developed fact sheets for living lab France. You can read them here.
