Research project Demo Klimrek Arable farming
General introduction
For Flemish arable farmers, tools including five new climate measures were developed and quantified in the Klimrek Arable Farming demonstration project. These five measures either reduce net greenhouse gas emissions or increase the farm’s climate resilience. They thus cover both climate mitigation and adaptation. The Klimrek Akkerbouw climate guidance tool was thus expanded and immediately rolled out further across the sector. The project built upon VLAIO-LA Klimrek, in which ILVO developed climate pathways for dairy, arable, and pig farms based on international LCA standards, adapted to the Flemish context.
Research approach
In this demonstration project, the ILVO researchers continue to follow international LCA standards, refining the actual calculations and utilizing concrete data and practices from the Flemish context. As a result, the impact assessments and trends are more closely aligned with (measured) reality. In addition to the five new climate measures, the researchers developed a comprehensive benchmark for potato-growing farms using data from 51 crops across 26 farms. The demo project involved 20 additional arable farmers, who learned to master the methodology through applications and calculations at the level of their own farms. Also five new climate consultants have been trained at Inagro, Viaverda, and Boerenbond to support individual arable farmers in developing a clearly substantiated plan with climate-smart measures that are feasible for their own farms.
Relevance/Valorization
In short, the project provides concrete tools, benchmarks, and personalized guidance to accelerate reductions in greenhouse gas emissions and climate adaptation in the arable farming sector. Thanks to the additional consultants and the comprehensive database for potato cultivation, there is now a solid foundation for providing climate-smart guidance to many more arable farmers.
