IAAS Germany Blog                         

Von Hopfensmoothie bis Käsebuffet - Das Seminarwochenende am Bodensee

22 Students from the universities Hohenheim (Germany), Bonn (Germany), Vienna (Österreich) and Zurich (Swiss) came together in Friedrichshafen, lake Constance. We choose to focus on the lake Constance and its surroundings, because

of its outstanding importance in the cultivation of special crops such as fruit and hops, as well as in livestock farming and the

the associated cheese production. In a period of five days, various excursions and workshops took place about these topics.

agricultural importance.

The goal of this event was to combine the theory learned at the universities with the practical experience, to show new perspectives for IAAS and the future professional life for students, as well as to show different

areas of the agar/food sector.

 

Day 1/4: Cheese Buffet 

Today we visited the Leupolz cheese dairy where we looked at the production process of the local cheeses; Bergkäse, Emmentaler and Drumling. One wheel of cheese weighs 80 kg and to reach this weight, 1000 liters of milk have to be used. After we were allowed to taste the cheese ourselves, we went to the Archehof Birk in the Allgäu. 

To be considered an Archehof, at least three endangered species must be kept. Here we were allowed to look at the Augsburg hen, brown mountain sheep and Allgäu brown cattle. Such older breeds are multi-talented, but give everything only in moderation, so they are not specialized. With a small farm store, the Birk family markets their products such as sausages, cheese, hides, etc., holds regular seminars and is considered a place of learning and experience.

 

Day 2/4 30.10.22: Hops 

Tettnang is known worldwide for its hop production. About 150,000 plants with up to 25 different varieties are grown there. Hop in beer has many purposes; known for the typical aroma in beer. In addition, it makes the beer more durable and has a disinfecting effect, which was known early. For every 100 liters of beer, there are usually 100 grams of hops. The quantity varies depending on the seasoning. Craft beers in particular are known for a higher content.

In cultivation, only female hop plants are required, which repeatedly form hops for up to 50 years and sprout new ones in the spring. In this process, the plants grown genetically to the left must be thinned out by hand and wrapped around steel wire and are similar to tomatoes in a greenhouse. If the plant is wrapped right side up, it will not form properly. After the hike to the hop estate and the great guided tour, we ended the day with a campfire.

 

Day 3/4 31.10.22 Apples

The packaging plant of BAYWA Obstbau is located in Kressbronn. BAYWA markets apples and pears as well as fruit from the region. Pre-sorted goods are delivered by the farmers and then weighed at BAYWA, sorted according to quality characteristics and then stored in one of the 56 storage rooms. Dryness and coolness are important here. The CO2 (3%) and oxygen (1%) levels in the storage facility must be kept very low in order to interrupt or slow down the natural ripening process. By the way, up to 300 thousand tons of apples fit into the largest warehouse🍏.

Afterwards, we were able to visit the neighboring Agri-Photovoltaic plant of the Bernhard family. The idea here is to make double use of agricultural land; here, the apple orchard and photovoltaic systems are used simultaneously. The modules and the tarpaulins between the individual rows protect the trees from hail, heavy rain and sunburn. Through the APV, a whole 90% of pesticides can be saved here. Whether there are yield losses can only be assessed at the next harvest. Future challenges include keeping the panels clean, the cost of new APV systems, and the control of aphids. By the way, you will not only find the APV plant, but also a farm store with all kinds of apples and the popular varieties Sweetango, Gala, Fräulein and Kanzi. 

In the evening we had a spooky halloween-evening. 👻

 

 

Day 4/4 01.11.22 Nature conservation

The 4th and last day took us to the Federsee nature reserve, managed by the NABU (Nature and Biodiversity Conservation Union), which, with the help of biotope management measures to preserve the moor / wetlands around the Federsee. This is of great importance, as bogs that are not intact contribute significantly to the greenhouse effect and intact bogs store immense amounts of carbon. By preserving the various biotopes around the lake (bog meadows, bog forest and reed forest), biodiversity is simultaneously promoted, including 270 different bird species.  

Peat cutting has already destroyed or negatively affected many peatlands. NABU would like to see economic use of the moors, but without negatively influencing them. 

Afterwards, we walked through the Wackelwald, which was created by the silting up of the Federsee and the resulting deposits of lime and dead plants. In the Wackelwald, the peat layer is about 30cm thick, and underneath are soft, pudding-like deposits up to 6m deep. Only the roots of the plants that pass through the peat give the soil its load-bearing capacity, whereby it gives way with every step. 

 

We also want to thank our sponsor Lemken GmbH & Co KG who helped us to make this event possible. 

 

Motivation-Weekend in Nancy

Motivation-Weekend in Nancy 06.05-08.05.2022

06.Mai.2022 

Friday, May 06th; Arrival in Nancy and lots of food

On the 6th of May we departed in Bonn with five people from our committee; Maya, Marisol, Simon, Felix and Theresa. Our destination: Nancy. 

We arrived at 9pm, where we were warmly welcomed by IAAS-Nancy. Our accommodation for this night was the place of one of the members. They prepared lots of food for us including starters, a main course and also dessert, which we really appreciated after our long car ride. After this tasty dinner and lots of talking, it was time to end the day, since there was a tight program planned for us the next day. 

Saturday, May 07th; City-Tour, Botanical Garden and Méchoui-Party

The next day, we started our morning all together with pan au chocolate and coffee while we played a few games of the game UNO to warm up the mood. After this refreshment, we made our way to the city center, where we passed by a beautiful park,  le parc Sainte-Marie  de Nancy, where a flower market happened to be taking place. We also saw beautiful old buildings. The city is characterized by buildings from the Middle Ages and the early modern period, as well as the neo-Gothic style and especially the Art Nouveau style. 

Before getting some food, we went to this beautiful plaza named “Place Stanislas”, which was built in 1755 by order of the Duke of Lorraine, formerly King of Poland. His statue is located in the middle of the square. This  square, together with two other adjacent squares, is part of the UNESCO World Heritage Site. 

Afterwards, we walked through a park next to it “le parc de la pépinière”. A really incredible park with blooming flowers, huge trees and a peacock house. Since we were getting hungry, we went to get food next and had a little picnic in the “jardin d’eau” (the water garden). It was a very enjoyable break next to the water with the sun shining on us. 

After lunch, we took the car to go to the botanical garden of Nancy, which is one of the biggest in France. Nearly 12.000 species can be discovered within a 25 hectare garden containing 2.500 m2 tropical greenhouses. We found rare and endangered plants and also some you would not find in our climate zone. In addition, there was an exhibition to discover the world of dinosaurs and the history of the evolution of plants and animals. 

Our next stop was the campus of Ensaia, the school for students in agronomy and food industries. We walked across the campus grounds and discovered the little crop garden of the school. 

Then it was time for the highlight of the day and probably the highlight of the year for students at Ensaia: the Méchoui-Party. We drove a bit further out of Nancy to a little farm. There was nothing around but a street. What a perfect spot for a party. 

When we arrived, many tents were already set up, since it is kind of a tradition to spend the night at the farm. So we did the same and set up ours as well. 

We took a little walk over the farm, where we saw some cows and calves and a few barns. In one of those, the dancefloor and DJ - desk, bar and buffet with possibilities to sit down, were located. Music was already playing and we got some drinks in the themed eco-cups we got on our arrival. Then the food was served, mostly salads and baguettes with dips and, of course, the méchoui. Méchoui is a kind of barbecue, where a whole pig is grilled over a fire. After the meal, the dance floor filled up and we kept dancing for hours. 

Sunday, May 08th; last Lunch and saying goodbye 

It was a very fun but short night. In the morning, they offered coffee and snacks and then it was time to get back to the city center to meet up with the rest of our group, as not everybody stayed at the farm for the night. We bought Poké-Bowls to-go and went to the “parc de la Pepinère”. And then it was sadly already time to say goodbye. We went to our car and made our way back to Bonn. 

Thank you to the IAAS-Nancy committee who organized this amazing weekend for us. We had a really great time with you people and are already looking forward to seeing you all again soon.

 

 

IAAS meets YPARD

Supporting youth in agriculture - how can we improve the position of youth in the sector

 

Young agricultural professionals what actions do you as the present and future generation wish today’s custodians had taken to improve the agricultural sector? What strategies can you take now for improving positions of young people in agriculture? 

Download
Workshop Results
YPARD IAAS Workshop Tropentage 2017.pdf
Adobe Acrobat Document 735.7 KB

IAAS Seminar 2017 Bonn

IAAS Seminar 2017: On Roman Traces Along the Milkyway

Wednesday, May 24th, Arrival and teambuilding day

 

Arrival and get-to-know-day! Wednesday was the beginning of an eventful seminar, where we met new people, followed Roman traces and experienced the agricultural sector in the Eifel region. Details will follow later on. Firstly, our participants were welcomed by. Afterwards, we drove all together to Prüm, a very beautiful place in Rhineland-Palatinate. Our accommodation for the next few days was a tipi campsite, which was perfect for bonfire nights among friends, workshops and collective dinner. Once we moved into our tipis, the bonding time started. Some people had long and deep conversations, while others prepared dinner or relaxed after the journey to Prüm. Especially our teambuilding games in the evening were perfect get to know each other quickly. 

 

Thursday, May 25th, Dairy farming on a small scale

On Thursday morning, we brought off our self-organized workshop about dairy farming.

We invited a counsellor for dairy farms in the area as an expert. The main topics were animal welfare and food safety- two of the most discussed topics in the dairy industry at the moment. The participants were highly motivated to improve their skills concerning these two topics. After this productive forenoon, we walked to a nearby dairy farm in the afternoon. There we got a tour around the farm by one of their owners, who is also studying in Bonn. He showed and explained every aspect of his farm and we were able to discover a lot of things which we had discussed earlier that day. For instance, we got to know the farmers new and very animal friendly calf barn or the modern cooling system in the main stable. In the evening, everyone was busy preparing for our trade fair, where every participant prepares some food and drinks being typical for his or her country.

 

Friday, May 26th, Dairy farming on a large scale

Friday morning we drove through the beautiful landscape of Eifel region and along the river Mosel to visit the dairy factory Hochwald. We were warmly welcomed by one of their managers who gave us an interesting presentation about where this dairy factory came from and where it is headed to in future. While we listened, we were able to try a part of Hochwald’s range of products. Afterwards it got even more interesting as we entered their production site and saw the giant tank and tubes system and the impressingly fast filling system. After visiting this factory, we arrived at another dairy farm, which has its own little dairy factory. One third of their milk produced by about 120 dairy cows is sold directly to stores and super-markets. It was very interesting to learn about the challenges they took in order to make this happen.

Later this day, we drove to one of Eifel’s famous lakes, a Maar, which accrued on the top of old volcanoes. There, we enjoyed the sun as well as the cold water of the lake while reflecting about the impressions of the day. During the last two days the participants got to now a representative amount of dairy farms as well as large dairy companies and now are able to form their own opinion about their strategies who lead to success in dairy farming and industry.

 

Saturday, May 27th, Cultural explorations

On another sunny day, we went on a trip to Bitburg for a brewery inspection. What is this place famous for? Right, for one of the most popular German beer: Bitburger. At the arrival, we were welcomed by a guide in a very modern building. The guided tour through the museum was clearly illustrated and well understandable by its visual and aurally presentation of history, ingredients and processes. We got insights into who to grow hop plants up to the manufacturing of the final product beer. Subsequently, we were invited to taste some beer in the Bitburger Premium Lounge.

To continue the cultural programme, we went to Trier, the oldest city north of the Alps. The crowded but nice city has numerous old roman monuments such as the amphitheatre, thermal bath, basilica or Porta Nigra. At first we visited Porta Nigra. The impressive monument has three floors, where old statues and scripts are shown. Inside this building we learned a lot about the history and municipal structure of Trier. Additionally, we organised a city tour and visited the Liebfrauen-church and basilica.

After all these cultural impressions the participants were happy to top the seminar off with bonfire and BBQ.

 

Sunday, May 28th, Feedback and depature

Time runs by so fast and so it did this week. After having breakfast all together and reviewing our seminar, it was time to say goodbye. The trip back home was full of good memories and exchange about new gained experiences.

At this point, we would like to say thank you to our sponsors and participants, who made this great event happen.

Impressions

Download
Seminar 2017 On Roman Traces_Report.pdf
Adobe Acrobat Document 1.3 MB

IAAS seminar 2017: Make Agriculture Great Again

29th of April 2016 – 6th of May 2017

“Make Agriculture Great Again” – this was to be the topic of this year’s seminar. In times of decreasing producer prices, a damaged image of agriculture and rising pressure from society it seems to be our task as students in the field of agriculture and related sciences to do exactly that. Supported by our generous sponsors we left Stuttgart for a journey that would take us to two different countries, seven exciting companies, farms and research centers as well as diverse landscapes and cultures. We were joined by students from Germany, Uruguay, Switzerland, Slovenia, Serbia, Spain, Croatia and Poland, 32 in total, who made this a memorable week for IAAS Hohenheim.

 

Saturday, April 29th Hohenheim day

After a long journey we expected the participants to be tired but the excitement to meet new people and to start the seminar predominated. We prepared a little scavenger hunt on the campus area and also a little quiz about Germany. In the afternoon we started our journey to the Lake Constance.

 

Sunday, April 30th RAUCH day

On Sunday morning, we visited the Hops museum in Tettnang, one of the wolrd’s most important areas for hops production. Here we learned a lot about the traditional and modern cultivation and processing of hops for brewing purposes. In the afternoon, we had a city tour through the historical town of Meersburg. We enjoyed the sunny day at Lake Constance and the clear view from the castle onto the snow-covered Alps. Sunday evening was the week’s highlight with the Trade fair, where every participant presented culinary specialities from his or her home country.

 

Monday, May 1st Wulle day

Sunshine, a handcart with some beer and a hike – that is how most of Germans expect their traditional May hike to be. Although we lacked mostly all of it we tried to keep up with this tradition and went out for a little walk. Despite the bad weather and the fact that our hike was more of a little walk than the hike everybody expected the participants enjoyed it. In the afternoon we went to see the open-air museum in Neuhausen ob Eck where we experienced how people of the region of the Black Forest used to live and work in the past. One of the highlights was the demonstration of the water wheels which where used to for a band-saw and a mill. In the evening we prepared a "Spätzle"-Workshop and showed the participants how this tasty traditional Swabian dish is prepared. Of course we also tasted the result of our work - Käsespätzle.

 

Tuesday, May 2nd AMAZONE day

On Tuesday morning we visited the Claas Bad Saulgau GmbH, a European market leader in green harvest technology. Dr. Katalin Csehi gave us a warm welcome, introduced us to the world of Claas and gave us an insight into the fields in which Claas will operate in the future. Afterwards we were shown the production site and followed the production step by step. At this time of the year the drums of the “Jaguar” forage harvesters are produced.

After a delicious lunch at their cafeteria we moved on to visit the LAZBW, the research centre for cattle production and grassland of the federal state Baden-Württemberg. First we got explanations on the impact of different feeding strategies, bedding materials and modern stable technology before we looked at the milking parlor. Following this Prof. Dr. Elsässer showed us his research for the so called “protein strategy” in the subject of greenland. In their trial fields they observe the mixture of grassland with different legumes like white/red clover or lucerne to increase the protein yield of the grassland.

In the evening we listened to presentations on “innovations in agriculture” which our participants prepared with regard to their countries.

 

Wednesday, May 3rd Vegetables & Energy

Wednesday’s journey started with a drive towards Lake Constance. Our first program point was the grower cooperative “Reichenau-Gemüse eG”. They represent the horticulturists which traditionally produce their vegetables on the Island Reichenau that is a UNESCO world heritage site. The cooperative undertakes the commercialization and is responsible for distributing, selling and promoting products from this special island. The philosophy is to produce high quality in a sustainable way.

We saw their modern logistic center in the middle of the island. Here they pack, cool and distribute the vegetables. Afterwards one of their horticulturists kindly showed us around his greenhouses. He is producing organic tomatoes as wells as conventional cucumbers and peppers. We learned about the integrated crop management that is used for their production.

Due to our tight program, we had lunch on our way to the next program point, the “Farm Heggelbach”. It is a Demeter Farm Community in the second generation with organic vegetables production, dairy cows, a cheese dairy, pigs and energy production. Special about the farm is that it is owned by 6 families working together, every member being responsible for their own division. After seeing the whole farm, we also had a look at their special research project, the Agrophotovoltaics. It is a photovoltaic construction in the height of five meters, so it is possible to grow crops underneath.

In the evening we had a little wine-tasting with different wines, produced in Baden-Württemberg.

 

Thursday, May 4th KWS-day

On Thursday we had a traditional Bavarian breakfast. The participants got Pretzels and Weißwürste and those who wanted could even try the “Hefe-Weizen-Beer”. After this bountiful breakfast we started our journey to Switzerland. Our first stop was Stein am Rhein, a flabbergasting beautiful little old town located directly at the Rhine river.

After a little tour through the town and a short history lesson on Switzerland we continued our journey to Hörhausen where we visited one of the region’s largest Walnuts plantation. We saw how much work it means and how much time is needed to grow walnut trees. But we also saw the influences of the very recent late frost. There we learned that innovative breeds could prevent loss from late frost and could Make Agriculture Great Again.

On our way back home we came along the castle Laufen and the Rhine fall, Europes’ largest water fall. We rounded off our day with a self-made wine tasting with wines from the region.

 

Friday, May 5th Hochwald day

On our last day we visited Hohentwiel, the largest fortress ruins in Germany, where we had an impressive view of the Lake Constance, over the gentle rolling hills of the Thurgau region to the majestic peaks of the Alps. In the afternoon we had a guided tour at the brewery “Berg” where we also could convince ourself from the fantastic taste of the beer, which is produced out of regional products.

Saturday, May 6th Treiber day

On Saturday was the day of farewells after one week of amazing experience. Bags were packed, phone numbers shared and all the participants were brought to the train station and to the airport to make sure they will have a safe trip back home to their countries. We had an amazing week with lots of impressions on how to “Make Agriculture Great Again”!

Download
Final Report Seminar 2017.pdf
Adobe Acrobat Document 2.2 MB

Got Interested?

Are you interested in IAAS Hohenheim, our activities or do you want further impressions of this year’s seminar?

Send us an Email to iaas@uni-hohenheim.de

 

Acknowledgement

IAAS Germany would like to thank all participants for their great interest and motivation during the seminar. We look forward to meeting you again at your seminars!

Undoubtedly this seminar could not have been arranged without the generous help of our sponsors, whom we would hereby like to thank cordially.

 -AMAZONEN-Werke H. Dreyer GmbH & Co. KG

-Bäckerei Konditorei Waldschütz

-Bäckerei und Konditorei Treiber GmbH

-FrieslandCampina Germany GmbH

-Hochdorfer Kronenbrauerei

-Hochwald Foods GmbH

-KWS SAAT AG

-Mast-Jägermeister SE

-RAUCH Landmaschinenfabrik GmbH

-SÜDKOLA Limonadenwerk

-University of Hohenheim

-Viehzentrale Südwest GmbH

-Wulle Biere

Exchange Week IAAS Bonn: Agriculture: Changing structures – new ways to success

Here are some news on our exchange week that took place from October 23th to October 30th in Bonn (Germany).

The topic was ‘Agriculture: Changing structures – new ways to success’ and we hope to have planned a diverse program in order to get an idea of this topic in Germany.

Our guests arrived on Sunday from all over Europe. France, Montenegro, Greece, Sweden and the Netherlands were represented.

We started our program on Monday with a visit to the sugar company Pfeifer & Langen in Euskirchen. Their main field of expertise is in the extraction of sugar from sugar beets. We were able to see all the procedures from the arrival of the beets to the end product: Liquid and solid sugar.

Back in Bonn we were given a presentation by a physiotherapist who explained us how our body reacts to food and what you can achieve with different ways of eating. He also went into the different eating habits of the represented countries. In the spirit of a healthy nutrition we had some really good wraps afterwards.

Tuesday began with a visit to the field laboratories from our university called Campus Klein Altendorf. We got a tour around the place, different projects on renewable energies were explained to us and we had a lot of fun during a tractor ride through the research fields. Later we went to the oldest Kölsch brewery in Cologne. After a good look at the factory and the machines we knew the difference between this typical beer and other German beers and rewarded ourselves with a cool Kölsch in the cellar of the brewery.

The first thing to do on Wednesday was to go to the Federal Ministry of Nutrition and Agriculture. We listened to a presentation about their work and the recent struggles they are facing. Afterwards we had a controversial discussion mainly about the question if governments are doing enough to support farmers and promote awareness about the origin of food in society. Next stop on our journey to see how farmers try to face future struggles was at a bio-dynamic Demeter farm. Hearing about this way of farming was a very new experience for most of us and opinions differed a lot.

On Thursday we visited two different kinds of dairy cattle farms. The first one works with two milking robots and the second one is in the transition to become ecological and additionally has a milk station where people can pass by and buy fresh milk from an automat. Before driving back to Bonn we toasted with a cold glass of milk. In the afternoon everyone had to prepare their food for the obligatory trade fair. After getting to know the various traditional foods and drinks from all countries the mood was perfect for some karaoke and we enriched the bar in question with our glorious singing talents.

We started the next day (Friday) visiting the large scale potato farm Gut Neu Hemmerich that is energy self-sufficient. After an introduction to the vivid history of this farm we got insights into their way of cultivating potatoes, sugar beets, barley and other crops as well as into agricultural engineering or plant protection. We closed the tour with a delicious home cooked three course menu. With new strength we went to explore Cologne at day and night.

Saturday we had a long walk through the Wahner Heide – a natural reserve – were we saw a cattle and water buffalo farm. Their ‘task’ is to help keeping the biodiverse area open for seldom plants and animals. It was very interesting to see how agriculture and natural protection work hand in hand. We had a real good time walking through the sunshine and enjoying the nature. And without realising how fast time had passed the last evening had arrived and we used it to show our guests the beauty of Bonn.

 

Sunday was all about saying goodbye. We are very pleased to have had you here. It was great that everyone took so much interest in our activities – that made it to an awesome exchange week on all levels. We hope you enjoyed the week as much as we did. Looking forward to seeing you on some other IAAS events in the future for more fun, exchange and experiences!

 

 

Below you can download our final report in full length with more pictures of the week and including our sponsors!

 

Download
The final report in full length including our sponsors
Report_Exchange_Week_IAASGermany.pdf
Adobe Acrobat Document 1.2 MB
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Von Hopfensmoothie bis Käsebuffet - Das Seminarwochenende am Bodensee

22 Students from the universities Hohenheim (Germany), Bonn (Germany), Vienna (Österreich) and Zurich (Swiss) came together in Friedrichshafen, lake Constance. We choose to focus on the lake Constance and its surroundings, because

of its outstanding importance in the cultivation of special crops such as fruit and hops, as well as in livestock farming and the

the associated cheese production. In a period of five days, various excursions and workshops took place about these topics.

agricultural importance.

The goal of this event was to combine the theory learned at the universities with the practical experience, to show new perspectives for IAAS and the future professional life for students, as well as to show different

areas of the agar/food sector.

 

Day 1/4: Cheese Buffet 

Today we visited the Leupolz cheese dairy where we looked at the production process of the local cheeses; Bergkäse, Emmentaler and Drumling. One wheel of cheese weighs 80 kg and to reach this weight, 1000 liters of milk have to be used. After we were allowed to taste the cheese ourselves, we went to the Archehof Birk in the Allgäu. 

To be considered an Archehof, at least three endangered species must be kept. Here we were allowed to look at the Augsburg hen, brown mountain sheep and Allgäu brown cattle. Such older breeds are multi-talented, but give everything only in moderation, so they are not specialized. With a small farm store, the Birk family markets their products such as sausages, cheese, hides, etc., holds regular seminars and is considered a place of learning and experience.

 

Day 2/4 30.10.22: Hops 

Tettnang is known worldwide for its hop production. About 150,000 plants with up to 25 different varieties are grown there. Hop in beer has many purposes; known for the typical aroma in beer. In addition, it makes the beer more durable and has a disinfecting effect, which was known early. For every 100 liters of beer, there are usually 100 grams of hops. The quantity varies depending on the seasoning. Craft beers in particular are known for a higher content.

In cultivation, only female hop plants are required, which repeatedly form hops for up to 50 years and sprout new ones in the spring. In this process, the plants grown genetically to the left must be thinned out by hand and wrapped around steel wire and are similar to tomatoes in a greenhouse. If the plant is wrapped right side up, it will not form properly. After the hike to the hop estate and the great guided tour, we ended the day with a campfire.

 

Day 3/4 31.10.22 Apples

The packaging plant of BAYWA Obstbau is located in Kressbronn. BAYWA markets apples and pears as well as fruit from the region. Pre-sorted goods are delivered by the farmers and then weighed at BAYWA, sorted according to quality characteristics and then stored in one of the 56 storage rooms. Dryness and coolness are important here. The CO2 (3%) and oxygen (1%) levels in the storage facility must be kept very low in order to interrupt or slow down the natural ripening process. By the way, up to 300 thousand tons of apples fit into the largest warehouse🍏.

Afterwards, we were able to visit the neighboring Agri-Photovoltaic plant of the Bernhard family. The idea here is to make double use of agricultural land; here, the apple orchard and photovoltaic systems are used simultaneously. The modules and the tarpaulins between the individual rows protect the trees from hail, heavy rain and sunburn. Through the APV, a whole 90% of pesticides can be saved here. Whether there are yield losses can only be assessed at the next harvest. Future challenges include keeping the panels clean, the cost of new APV systems, and the control of aphids. By the way, you will not only find the APV plant, but also a farm store with all kinds of apples and the popular varieties Sweetango, Gala, Fräulein and Kanzi. 

In the evening we had a spooky halloween-evening. 👻

 

 

Day 4/4 01.11.22 Nature conservation

The 4th and last day took us to the Federsee nature reserve, managed by the NABU (Nature and Biodiversity Conservation Union), which, with the help of biotope management measures to preserve the moor / wetlands around the Federsee. This is of great importance, as bogs that are not intact contribute significantly to the greenhouse effect and intact bogs store immense amounts of carbon. By preserving the various biotopes around the lake (bog meadows, bog forest and reed forest), biodiversity is simultaneously promoted, including 270 different bird species.  

Peat cutting has already destroyed or negatively affected many peatlands. NABU would like to see economic use of the moors, but without negatively influencing them. 

Afterwards, we walked through the Wackelwald, which was created by the silting up of the Federsee and the resulting deposits of lime and dead plants. In the Wackelwald, the peat layer is about 30cm thick, and underneath are soft, pudding-like deposits up to 6m deep. Only the roots of the plants that pass through the peat give the soil its load-bearing capacity, whereby it gives way with every step. 

 

We also want to thank our sponsor Lemken GmbH & Co KG who helped us to make this event possible. 

 

Motivation-Weekend in Nancy

Motivation-Weekend in Nancy 06.05-08.05.2022

06.Mai.2022 

Friday, May 06th; Arrival in Nancy and lots of food

On the 6th of May we departed in Bonn with five people from our committee; Maya, Marisol, Simon, Felix and Theresa. Our destination: Nancy. 

We arrived at 9pm, where we were warmly welcomed by IAAS-Nancy. Our accommodation for this night was the place of one of the members. They prepared lots of food for us including starters, a main course and also dessert, which we really appreciated after our long car ride. After this tasty dinner and lots of talking, it was time to end the day, since there was a tight program planned for us the next day. 

Saturday, May 07th; City-Tour, Botanical Garden and Méchoui-Party

The next day, we started our morning all together with pan au chocolate and coffee while we played a few games of the game UNO to warm up the mood. After this refreshment, we made our way to the city center, where we passed by a beautiful park,  le parc Sainte-Marie  de Nancy, where a flower market happened to be taking place. We also saw beautiful old buildings. The city is characterized by buildings from the Middle Ages and the early modern period, as well as the neo-Gothic style and especially the Art Nouveau style. 

Before getting some food, we went to this beautiful plaza named “Place Stanislas”, which was built in 1755 by order of the Duke of Lorraine, formerly King of Poland. His statue is located in the middle of the square. This  square, together with two other adjacent squares, is part of the UNESCO World Heritage Site. 

Afterwards, we walked through a park next to it “le parc de la pépinière”. A really incredible park with blooming flowers, huge trees and a peacock house. Since we were getting hungry, we went to get food next and had a little picnic in the “jardin d’eau” (the water garden). It was a very enjoyable break next to the water with the sun shining on us. 

After lunch, we took the car to go to the botanical garden of Nancy, which is one of the biggest in France. Nearly 12.000 species can be discovered within a 25 hectare garden containing 2.500 m2 tropical greenhouses. We found rare and endangered plants and also some you would not find in our climate zone. In addition, there was an exhibition to discover the world of dinosaurs and the history of the evolution of plants and animals. 

Our next stop was the campus of Ensaia, the school for students in agronomy and food industries. We walked across the campus grounds and discovered the little crop garden of the school. 

Then it was time for the highlight of the day and probably the highlight of the year for students at Ensaia: the Méchoui-Party. We drove a bit further out of Nancy to a little farm. There was nothing around but a street. What a perfect spot for a party. 

When we arrived, many tents were already set up, since it is kind of a tradition to spend the night at the farm. So we did the same and set up ours as well. 

We took a little walk over the farm, where we saw some cows and calves and a few barns. In one of those, the dancefloor and DJ - desk, bar and buffet with possibilities to sit down, were located. Music was already playing and we got some drinks in the themed eco-cups we got on our arrival. Then the food was served, mostly salads and baguettes with dips and, of course, the méchoui. Méchoui is a kind of barbecue, where a whole pig is grilled over a fire. After the meal, the dance floor filled up and we kept dancing for hours. 

Sunday, May 08th; last Lunch and saying goodbye 

It was a very fun but short night. In the morning, they offered coffee and snacks and then it was time to get back to the city center to meet up with the rest of our group, as not everybody stayed at the farm for the night. We bought Poké-Bowls to-go and went to the “parc de la Pepinère”. And then it was sadly already time to say goodbye. We went to our car and made our way back to Bonn. 

Thank you to the IAAS-Nancy committee who organized this amazing weekend for us. We had a really great time with you people and are already looking forward to seeing you all again soon.

 

 

IAAS meets YPARD

Supporting youth in agriculture - how can we improve the position of youth in the sector

 

Young agricultural professionals what actions do you as the present and future generation wish today’s custodians had taken to improve the agricultural sector? What strategies can you take now for improving positions of young people in agriculture? 

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Workshop Results
YPARD IAAS Workshop Tropentage 2017.pdf
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IAAS Seminar 2017 Bonn

IAAS Seminar 2017: On Roman Traces Along the Milkyway

Wednesday, May 24th, Arrival and teambuilding day

 

Arrival and get-to-know-day! Wednesday was the beginning of an eventful seminar, where we met new people, followed Roman traces and experienced the agricultural sector in the Eifel region. Details will follow later on. Firstly, our participants were welcomed by. Afterwards, we drove all together to Prüm, a very beautiful place in Rhineland-Palatinate. Our accommodation for the next few days was a tipi campsite, which was perfect for bonfire nights among friends, workshops and collective dinner. Once we moved into our tipis, the bonding time started. Some people had long and deep conversations, while others prepared dinner or relaxed after the journey to Prüm. Especially our teambuilding games in the evening were perfect get to know each other quickly. 

 

Thursday, May 25th, Dairy farming on a small scale

On Thursday morning, we brought off our self-organized workshop about dairy farming.

We invited a counsellor for dairy farms in the area as an expert. The main topics were animal welfare and food safety- two of the most discussed topics in the dairy industry at the moment. The participants were highly motivated to improve their skills concerning these two topics. After this productive forenoon, we walked to a nearby dairy farm in the afternoon. There we got a tour around the farm by one of their owners, who is also studying in Bonn. He showed and explained every aspect of his farm and we were able to discover a lot of things which we had discussed earlier that day. For instance, we got to know the farmers new and very animal friendly calf barn or the modern cooling system in the main stable. In the evening, everyone was busy preparing for our trade fair, where every participant prepares some food and drinks being typical for his or her country.

 

Friday, May 26th, Dairy farming on a large scale

Friday morning we drove through the beautiful landscape of Eifel region and along the river Mosel to visit the dairy factory Hochwald. We were warmly welcomed by one of their managers who gave us an interesting presentation about where this dairy factory came from and where it is headed to in future. While we listened, we were able to try a part of Hochwald’s range of products. Afterwards it got even more interesting as we entered their production site and saw the giant tank and tubes system and the impressingly fast filling system. After visiting this factory, we arrived at another dairy farm, which has its own little dairy factory. One third of their milk produced by about 120 dairy cows is sold directly to stores and super-markets. It was very interesting to learn about the challenges they took in order to make this happen.

Later this day, we drove to one of Eifel’s famous lakes, a Maar, which accrued on the top of old volcanoes. There, we enjoyed the sun as well as the cold water of the lake while reflecting about the impressions of the day. During the last two days the participants got to now a representative amount of dairy farms as well as large dairy companies and now are able to form their own opinion about their strategies who lead to success in dairy farming and industry.

 

Saturday, May 27th, Cultural explorations

On another sunny day, we went on a trip to Bitburg for a brewery inspection. What is this place famous for? Right, for one of the most popular German beer: Bitburger. At the arrival, we were welcomed by a guide in a very modern building. The guided tour through the museum was clearly illustrated and well understandable by its visual and aurally presentation of history, ingredients and processes. We got insights into who to grow hop plants up to the manufacturing of the final product beer. Subsequently, we were invited to taste some beer in the Bitburger Premium Lounge.

To continue the cultural programme, we went to Trier, the oldest city north of the Alps. The crowded but nice city has numerous old roman monuments such as the amphitheatre, thermal bath, basilica or Porta Nigra. At first we visited Porta Nigra. The impressive monument has three floors, where old statues and scripts are shown. Inside this building we learned a lot about the history and municipal structure of Trier. Additionally, we organised a city tour and visited the Liebfrauen-church and basilica.

After all these cultural impressions the participants were happy to top the seminar off with bonfire and BBQ.

 

Sunday, May 28th, Feedback and depature

Time runs by so fast and so it did this week. After having breakfast all together and reviewing our seminar, it was time to say goodbye. The trip back home was full of good memories and exchange about new gained experiences.

At this point, we would like to say thank you to our sponsors and participants, who made this great event happen.

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IAAS seminar 2017: Make Agriculture Great Again

29th of April 2016 – 6th of May 2017

“Make Agriculture Great Again” – this was to be the topic of this year’s seminar. In times of decreasing producer prices, a damaged image of agriculture and rising pressure from society it seems to be our task as students in the field of agriculture and related sciences to do exactly that. Supported by our generous sponsors we left Stuttgart for a journey that would take us to two different countries, seven exciting companies, farms and research centers as well as diverse landscapes and cultures. We were joined by students from Germany, Uruguay, Switzerland, Slovenia, Serbia, Spain, Croatia and Poland, 32 in total, who made this a memorable week for IAAS Hohenheim.

 

Saturday, April 29th Hohenheim day

After a long journey we expected the participants to be tired but the excitement to meet new people and to start the seminar predominated. We prepared a little scavenger hunt on the campus area and also a little quiz about Germany. In the afternoon we started our journey to the Lake Constance.

 

Sunday, April 30th RAUCH day

On Sunday morning, we visited the Hops museum in Tettnang, one of the wolrd’s most important areas for hops production. Here we learned a lot about the traditional and modern cultivation and processing of hops for brewing purposes. In the afternoon, we had a city tour through the historical town of Meersburg. We enjoyed the sunny day at Lake Constance and the clear view from the castle onto the snow-covered Alps. Sunday evening was the week’s highlight with the Trade fair, where every participant presented culinary specialities from his or her home country.

 

Monday, May 1st Wulle day

Sunshine, a handcart with some beer and a hike – that is how most of Germans expect their traditional May hike to be. Although we lacked mostly all of it we tried to keep up with this tradition and went out for a little walk. Despite the bad weather and the fact that our hike was more of a little walk than the hike everybody expected the participants enjoyed it. In the afternoon we went to see the open-air museum in Neuhausen ob Eck where we experienced how people of the region of the Black Forest used to live and work in the past. One of the highlights was the demonstration of the water wheels which where used to for a band-saw and a mill. In the evening we prepared a "Spätzle"-Workshop and showed the participants how this tasty traditional Swabian dish is prepared. Of course we also tasted the result of our work - Käsespätzle.

 

Tuesday, May 2nd AMAZONE day

On Tuesday morning we visited the Claas Bad Saulgau GmbH, a European market leader in green harvest technology. Dr. Katalin Csehi gave us a warm welcome, introduced us to the world of Claas and gave us an insight into the fields in which Claas will operate in the future. Afterwards we were shown the production site and followed the production step by step. At this time of the year the drums of the “Jaguar” forage harvesters are produced.

After a delicious lunch at their cafeteria we moved on to visit the LAZBW, the research centre for cattle production and grassland of the federal state Baden-Württemberg. First we got explanations on the impact of different feeding strategies, bedding materials and modern stable technology before we looked at the milking parlor. Following this Prof. Dr. Elsässer showed us his research for the so called “protein strategy” in the subject of greenland. In their trial fields they observe the mixture of grassland with different legumes like white/red clover or lucerne to increase the protein yield of the grassland.

In the evening we listened to presentations on “innovations in agriculture” which our participants prepared with regard to their countries.

 

Wednesday, May 3rd Vegetables & Energy

Wednesday’s journey started with a drive towards Lake Constance. Our first program point was the grower cooperative “Reichenau-Gemüse eG”. They represent the horticulturists which traditionally produce their vegetables on the Island Reichenau that is a UNESCO world heritage site. The cooperative undertakes the commercialization and is responsible for distributing, selling and promoting products from this special island. The philosophy is to produce high quality in a sustainable way.

We saw their modern logistic center in the middle of the island. Here they pack, cool and distribute the vegetables. Afterwards one of their horticulturists kindly showed us around his greenhouses. He is producing organic tomatoes as wells as conventional cucumbers and peppers. We learned about the integrated crop management that is used for their production.

Due to our tight program, we had lunch on our way to the next program point, the “Farm Heggelbach”. It is a Demeter Farm Community in the second generation with organic vegetables production, dairy cows, a cheese dairy, pigs and energy production. Special about the farm is that it is owned by 6 families working together, every member being responsible for their own division. After seeing the whole farm, we also had a look at their special research project, the Agrophotovoltaics. It is a photovoltaic construction in the height of five meters, so it is possible to grow crops underneath.

In the evening we had a little wine-tasting with different wines, produced in Baden-Württemberg.

 

Thursday, May 4th KWS-day

On Thursday we had a traditional Bavarian breakfast. The participants got Pretzels and Weißwürste and those who wanted could even try the “Hefe-Weizen-Beer”. After this bountiful breakfast we started our journey to Switzerland. Our first stop was Stein am Rhein, a flabbergasting beautiful little old town located directly at the Rhine river.

After a little tour through the town and a short history lesson on Switzerland we continued our journey to Hörhausen where we visited one of the region’s largest Walnuts plantation. We saw how much work it means and how much time is needed to grow walnut trees. But we also saw the influences of the very recent late frost. There we learned that innovative breeds could prevent loss from late frost and could Make Agriculture Great Again.

On our way back home we came along the castle Laufen and the Rhine fall, Europes’ largest water fall. We rounded off our day with a self-made wine tasting with wines from the region.

 

Friday, May 5th Hochwald day

On our last day we visited Hohentwiel, the largest fortress ruins in Germany, where we had an impressive view of the Lake Constance, over the gentle rolling hills of the Thurgau region to the majestic peaks of the Alps. In the afternoon we had a guided tour at the brewery “Berg” where we also could convince ourself from the fantastic taste of the beer, which is produced out of regional products.

Saturday, May 6th Treiber day

On Saturday was the day of farewells after one week of amazing experience. Bags were packed, phone numbers shared and all the participants were brought to the train station and to the airport to make sure they will have a safe trip back home to their countries. We had an amazing week with lots of impressions on how to “Make Agriculture Great Again”!

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Exchange Week IAAS Bonn: Agriculture: Changing structures – new ways to success

Here are some news on our exchange week that took place from October 23th to October 30th in Bonn (Germany).

The topic was ‘Agriculture: Changing structures – new ways to success’ and we hope to have planned a diverse program in order to get an idea of this topic in Germany.

Our guests arrived on Sunday from all over Europe. France, Montenegro, Greece, Sweden and the Netherlands were represented.

We started our program on Monday with a visit to the sugar company Pfeifer & Langen in Euskirchen. Their main field of expertise is in the extraction of sugar from sugar beets. We were able to see all the procedures from the arrival of the beets to the end product: Liquid and solid sugar.

Back in Bonn we were given a presentation by a physiotherapist who explained us how our body reacts to food and what you can achieve with different ways of eating. He also went into the different eating habits of the represented countries. In the spirit of a healthy nutrition we had some really good wraps afterwards.

Tuesday began with a visit to the field laboratories from our university called Campus Klein Altendorf. We got a tour around the place, different projects on renewable energies were explained to us and we had a lot of fun during a tractor ride through the research fields. Later we went to the oldest Kölsch brewery in Cologne. After a good look at the factory and the machines we knew the difference between this typical beer and other German beers and rewarded ourselves with a cool Kölsch in the cellar of the brewery.

The first thing to do on Wednesday was to go to the Federal Ministry of Nutrition and Agriculture. We listened to a presentation about their work and the recent struggles they are facing. Afterwards we had a controversial discussion mainly about the question if governments are doing enough to support farmers and promote awareness about the origin of food in society. Next stop on our journey to see how farmers try to face future struggles was at a bio-dynamic Demeter farm. Hearing about this way of farming was a very new experience for most of us and opinions differed a lot.

On Thursday we visited two different kinds of dairy cattle farms. The first one works with two milking robots and the second one is in the transition to become ecological and additionally has a milk station where people can pass by and buy fresh milk from an automat. Before driving back to Bonn we toasted with a cold glass of milk. In the afternoon everyone had to prepare their food for the obligatory trade fair. After getting to know the various traditional foods and drinks from all countries the mood was perfect for some karaoke and we enriched the bar in question with our glorious singing talents.

We started the next day (Friday) visiting the large scale potato farm Gut Neu Hemmerich that is energy self-sufficient. After an introduction to the vivid history of this farm we got insights into their way of cultivating potatoes, sugar beets, barley and other crops as well as into agricultural engineering or plant protection. We closed the tour with a delicious home cooked three course menu. With new strength we went to explore Cologne at day and night.

Saturday we had a long walk through the Wahner Heide – a natural reserve – were we saw a cattle and water buffalo farm. Their ‘task’ is to help keeping the biodiverse area open for seldom plants and animals. It was very interesting to see how agriculture and natural protection work hand in hand. We had a real good time walking through the sunshine and enjoying the nature. And without realising how fast time had passed the last evening had arrived and we used it to show our guests the beauty of Bonn.

 

Sunday was all about saying goodbye. We are very pleased to have had you here. It was great that everyone took so much interest in our activities – that made it to an awesome exchange week on all levels. We hope you enjoyed the week as much as we did. Looking forward to seeing you on some other IAAS events in the future for more fun, exchange and experiences!

 

 

Below you can download our final report in full length with more pictures of the week and including our sponsors!

 

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Is the US election related to IAAS Germany

Or how much Donald Trump's win affects us

On Wednesday morning 9th of November 2016 the new President of the United States of America was elected. This development itself is not a big deal for a student organization in Germany which is concerned with agricultural sciences and related field of studies. However, this highly controversial election had one outcome – Donald John Trumps win, which in itself still would be not an issue if he was a regular republican candidate. In this case Trumps presidency might affect even an agricultural student organization in Germany. If this statement seems too absurd, then we have to take a step back and look at it from the following perspective:

Practical agriculture operates strongly within a political framework, where policies and subsidies can affect the crops that are produced as well as prices for the final product which a farmer can sell. Furthermore, agriculture operates within the framework of the natural environment where it is dependent on clean soil, clean water, biodiversity and a stable climate.

Although, Donald Trump’s policies are not clear cut on some issues, he did state that he does not believe in climate change - that is the scientific certainty that our planet is getting warmer due to the greenhouse effect. This is where the combination of politics and the natural environment goes together. Reducing global warming is a global issue and the US is one of the biggest CO2 emitters per capita. From an environmental and social point of view, it is crucial for the US to cut down on CO2 emissions. That, most likely, cannot happen when the leader of the country does not understand the basic scientific concepts.

 

But how exactly will that affect Germany and Agriculture?

On the homepage of the campaign donaldjtrump.com there is no position on agriculture or the environment yet, which goes to show that the administration is not prepared to deal with these fundamental topics in todays’ globalized (i.e concerning Germany) world. However, there is a position on energy where the following is stated:

„Unleash America’s $50 trillion in untapped shale, oil, and natural gas reserves, plus hundreds of years in clean coal reserves.“ - donaldjtrump.com/policies/energy/

This statement clearly shows that going back to non-renewable forms of energy use, will dramatically increase CO2-emissions as well as diminish the efforts put in by other countries to achieve an environmentally more stable future and thus a sustainable agriculture. In an interconnected world where the collaboration towards common goals is key in solving environmental as well as agricultural issues (i.e. growing world population) a loose cannon who divides the public may hamper important achievements on the protection of the environment. Furthermore, it seems that a Trump administration might sever ties with foreign countries to favor US products and therefore establish customs fees on imports from one of its most important trade partners – Germany.

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Seminar "An agricultural walk along the Rhine" - IAAS Hohenheim

Final Report

 

IAAS seminar 2016: An Agricultural Walk along the Rhine

 

30th of April 2016 – 7th of May 2016

“An Agricultural Walk along the Rhine” – this was to be the topic of this year’s seminar and it turned out to be even more. Supported by our great sponsors we left Stuttgart for a journey that would take us to three different countries, eight exciting companies, farms and research centers as well as diverse landscapes and cultures. We were joined by students from Germany, Ecuador, Austria, Slovenia, Serbia, Indonesia, Croatia and Norway, 28 in total, who made this a memorable week for IAAS Hohenheim.

 

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Motivation Weekend in Bonn

IAAS at a sugar beet factory.
IAAS at a sugar beet factory.

Here’s the report on our amazing German speaking motivation weekend:

On Thursday evening our guests from the IAAS committees in Hohenheim, Switzerland and the committee to be in Austria arrived at our accommodation nearby Bonn. We even had a representative from Slovenia. In a group of about 30 people there where some familiar faces and also many new ones! We started with homemade pizza and some games to get to know each other.

After breakfast the next day we drove to ‘Grafschafter’, a factory that is known in Germany for its sugar beet syrup. We had a guided tour and learned that there is a job called mud estimator where your only but important task is to calculate how much dirt is on the delivered beets in order to get the real weight. This tour was continued by a second breakfast with all their different varieties of bread spreads (not only out of sugar beets but all kinds of fruits) – delicious!

Later on we went to Lely, a company in Cologne that produces robots for dairy farms. The speaker was very qualified and engaged and gave us a diverse overview of the offered services and products. Back home the preparation for the Trade Fair started – luckily we had a big kitchen! It’s impressive how many different kinds of food you get from such few countries that at the first sight may seem very similar… Well, as you all can imagine it turned out being a merry evening. :D

Saturday we started with the mandatory organising stuff of IAAS Germany while having an ample and extensive brunch. And even if everyone was tired from the previous evening we mobilised our strength to go on a hiking trip on the other side of the Rhine to a castle and an old ruin – congratulations to everyone who really made it to the top!! The great sight and quiet nature made up for the tiring walk that was followed by a sightseeing tour through Bonn. All this walking was rewarded with some really good burgers at an Irish pub.

To crown the day we did a rally through the bars in the historic centre. Each group had to fulfil tasks to find the right bar. Among other things we delighted pedestrians with different singing performances. Later we all met up in one bar. After an eventful bus ride home we had a second Trade Fair with leftovers.

We fell in our beds just to wake up what felt like minutes later. And to make sure nobody forgot in which part of Germany we were everyone was waked by noisy carnival songs – anyone there who can imagine a more loving awakening?!

Everything left to do after breakfast was the sad part of saying goodbye – hopefully for not too long! We really enjoyed having you here. For some it was the first and for others another great IAAS experience!

In the end there is to say that we had a lot of fun, an exciting (agri-)cultural program and that we were always more than in time – the very least you can expect from a German speaking group! :D

Looking forward to a reunion next year! Maybe with a newly found committee in Vienna?!

 

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EDM 2015

The following report deals with the European Directors Meeting of the International Association of students in Agricultural and related Sciences (IAAS). This year the local committee of the University of Hohenheim had the pleasure to organize this important event and to host 31 students from Belgium, Belarus, Croatia, the Czech Republic, France, Germany, Greece, Mexico, Slovenia, Spain, Switzerland and the US.

Welcome in Hohenheim!

On Sunday, the 3rd of May we welcomed all our guests in Hohenheim and the organization team was kept busy with picking up our guests from their different points of arrival, offering snacks and playing motivation games. The highlight was a scavenger hunt in the main yard of the Hohenheim Castle where the participants had to answer questions about Germany and the region of Baden-Württemberg. The Students got to know the area as well as each other better. In the late afternoon we moved to our accommodation in Murrhardt. The whole group liked the place from the beginning and our week officially started there with a common dinner, an organizational meeting and a sampling of the participants’ expectations.


Agriculture in theory, history and practice

On Monday, the 4th of May, we drove back to Hohenheim to show our guests the whole university campus as well as the German Museum of Agriculture, which is located on our campus. A highlight of this morning was the chance to go up to the platform of our castle’s dome and enjoy the view to Hohenheim and its surroundings.

After having lunch, we visited the marketing company Vitfrisch in Neckarsulm. This company deals with various vegetables coming from local farmers in the regions of Heilbronn and Stuttgart. We saw how the locally grown vegetables were packed up and made ready for the markets.

In the evening our ‘mandatory’ IAAS-Trade Fair took place. Twelve different countries presented their traditional food and drinks as well as traditional clothing filling the evening with wonderful new flavors and adding invigorating ideas to our minds through a lot of interesting conversations.


‘KWS SAAT SE-Day’ – Getting to know the local (agri-)culture

After we had started Tuesday morning with a typical Bavarian “Weißwurst”-breakfast, we had several presentations of our participants about the agricultural sectors in their home countries. Later, we went to the ‘Hohenloher Freilichtmuseum’, a rebuilt historical village near Schwäbisch Hall. During a guided tour we learned a lot about rural life and various agricultural practices in former times. Afterwards we walked through the streets of the old town of Schwäbisch Hall and climbed up the tower of St. Michael.

The following report deals with the European Directors Meeting of the International Association of students in Agricultural and related Sciences (IAAS). This year the local committee of the University of Hohenheim had the pleasure to organize this important event and to host 31 students from Belgium, Belarus, Croatia, the Czech Republic, France, Germany, Greece, Mexico, Slovenia, Spain, Switzerland and the US.


Modern Agricultural Science versus passionate Bioland producers

Wednesday morning started early – at 7:30 we left Murrhardt and drove to the Boxberg Centre for Education and Science in pig breeding. In two smaller groups we got guided tours through the compound and discussed different trials and current topics in pig breeding. All in all, this visit was a great chance to experience modern applied agricultural science. The second activity of this day was the visit of a mill, belonging to a (Bioland) producer community. After a short presentation and a walking tour through the mill we got a nice impression of the producer community’s motivation and goals as well as of the mill and the products produced there.


Close to nature – During recreation and the visit of a Demeter farm

The first part of our fifth day we spent in a national park next to Murrhardt. All participants were really impressed by the waterfalls and the wild stream down in the narrow valley where we hiked and appreciated having the time to talk and relax. After a quick lunch we left with new energy to a Demeter farm. Many of our participants had not heard about biodynamic farming before and the specialties of this way of organic farming were discussed the rest of the day. In addition to the Demeter brand and practices, we also dealt with old and rare breeds belong to the farm and direct marketing of farm products.


AGROGEN-Day – Something about agricultural engineering and vegetables

On Friday morning we visited the company Kress, located next to Vaihingen/Enz. It is well- known all around the world for innovations in agricultural technology, especially for in the field of mechanical weed control. We got an idea of the various machines they produce for several crops and applications and were invited to stay for lunch afterwards.

In the afternoon we visited a nursery for vegetable plants, also located near to Vaihingen/Enz - Natterer Bioland Jungpflanzen. We saw all the different stages of production, mainly situated in greenhouses. All together the nursery had five hectares of greenhouses which were used at that moment, and more already empty because of the season. Back at Murrhardt we held the elections for the new European directors and discussed other current organizational and administrational issues of IAAS.


Agriculture and rural development in the area of Schwäbisch Hall

Out last full day, Saturday the 9th of May, we were introduced to the work of the Bäuerliche Erzeugergemeinschaft Schwäbisch Hall (BESH), a relatively large producer community. The founder and leader of BESH was happy to welcome us and showed us different parts of their activities. In addition to what we had already learned about producer community before, here the focus was put on rural development and marketing issues.

Full of new ideas, knowledge and a little bit exhausted we finished the program with the visit of the Haller Löwenbräu brewery. After returning back to the group home for a feedback round, we enjoyed the last evening together in Murrhardt.

It is beyond all doubt that this event could not have been arranged without the generous help of the sponsors and the University of Hohenheim, whom we would hereby like to thank.

BASF SE

Verfasste Studierendenschaft der Universität Hohenheim

Kverneland Group Deutschland GmbH

KWS SAAT AG

Universität Hohenheim

Bäckerei und Konditorei Treiber GmbH

AGROGEN Stiftung Schweiz

Universitätsbund Hohenheim e.V.

BEISELEN GmbH

Big Dutchman Group

Rapunzel Naturkost GmbH

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IAAS meets Berlin

 

 

On Thursday we met at Bonn central station to take the train to Berlin. There we wanted to help Sarah, a former member of IAAS Bonn, to found the third IAAS committee in Germany and to increase the level of awareness for our organisation in the capital city.

We started on Friday presenting ourselves in some lectures to students at Humboldt University.
Afterwards we visited the Natural History Museum. What impressed us most was the inexhaustible variety! It started with imposing dinosaurs being continued by a very detailed presentation of earth history explaining important processes within the universe.
Furthermore there was a worthwhile exhibition about flies and their global significance concerning relevant communicable diseases.
To improve our group dynamic and to integrate the new members we decided to complete the successful day on a Scandinavian Christmas market.

 

Since Berlin is a city of great importance regarding German history, on Saturday we booked a guided tour through a remarkable bunker located in Kreuzberg. The former gasometer was transformed and upgraded into a bunker to maintain the safety – especially for women and children – during the Berlin bombings in World War II.
After a lunch break we started a sightseeing tour visiting Alexanderplatz and the cathedral.
In the evening we gained some experience in Berlin night life.

 

On Sunday, to keep up the spirit of agricultural exchange, we headed to an ecological research station. We took a look at the different research fields and visited the nearby Christmas market.
At the end of the day we continued our sightseeing tour with the Holocaust Monument, the Brandenburger Tor and the East Side Gallery with its surrounding neighbourhood.


The new week began with further IAAS-presentations and the distribution of IAAS-leaflets in several universities that are related to agricultural sciences.
In the afternoon we had a meeting to organize our national cooperation and to talk about other IAAS-relevant topics.
Afterwards we closed our sightseeing circle by visiting a monument in memory of the Berlin Wall and its victims in Bernauer Straße.
We spent a convivial last evening at Sarah's place.

 

After another presentation during a lecture on Tuesday and incredible successful five days, lacking sleep and laughing a lot, we entered the train tired but berlinized on Tuesday.

Now we are looking forward to welcoming a new committee in Berlin soon!

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"Mountainous Croatia - potential for sustainable agriculture and development"

IK - The whole group arrived one day before the seminar officially started in Zagreb. This first night in Zagreb we used to get to know each other in the group. The first and the last day we stayed in Zagreb. That was great as we had the opportunity to see the city as well.
The first official day of the seminar we visited the Faculty of Agriculture of our host students. There we listened to an informative presentation of a professor about "agriculture in Croatia in general and the amount of the organic agriculture"
Though, most of the seminar took place  in the mountain-region "Lika". There we visited different organic vegetable-farms, cattle-farms, sheep-farms, cheese production, a lavender-farm, beekeeping, a farm producing medical herbs.

But we didn’t either miss out the Croatian culture and nature. We were in a cave, in a new church for pilgrims, we visited a spring, the coast and we got to know the Croatian food.
Like we heard that the amount of organic agriculture isn't so high, we saw a big diversity of sustainable farms.

The Croatian team started a good discussion about the demand of organic products in the different countries and in different age groups; what are advantage and disadvantages about organic.
In general it was a good mix between agricultural knowledge, culture, nature and fun.

We had a great week with a diverse group of interesting people of many different countries. And everybody made one’s contribution that this week was such a success.

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IAAS at FAO meeting in Rome

From October 13 through October 18 two IAAS delegates, one from IAAS Hohenheim and one from IAAS Iowa State University, had the opportunity to attend this year´s Committee on World Food Security (CFS) at the United Nation´s Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) based in Rome, Italy. Main goal of the visit was to recreate the relationship between IAAS and the FAO and to find possible reference persons to build a long term communication where it will be possible for our members to not only get informed but also to get actively involved in the wide and complex fields of activities of FAO. We were happy to find out that the intention of a partnership between IAAS and FAO is also in the interest of the officers of partnership and corporate communication which were amazed by the diversity of IAAS with its members not only in the field of agriculture but also in nutrition, food sciences, etc. as well as by the major network of IAAS with its committees working together in more than 35 countries worldwide.

The CFS is an intergovernmental body which serve as a forum for review and follow up of food security policies. The vision of CFS is to be the most inclusive international and intergovernmental platform for all stakeholders to work together in a coordinated way to ensure food security and nutrition for all. Attending this event gave us insights into the complex process of developing political recommendations but also gave us the chance of taking part in highly interesting side events and panel discussions with high level experts like Dacian Ciolos (EU Commissioner Agricultural and Rural Development), Kathleen Merrigan (Deputy Secretary of the USDA from 2009-2013) and Queen Maxima of the Netherlands (UN Secretary-General´s Special Advocate for Inclusive Finance for Development).

If you would like to attend a meeting of the FAO, watch for future opportunities on the IAAS facebook page, newsletter, and mailing lists. You could be the next to attend!

MH

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Seminar: "How Green is German Agriculture?"

IAAS at KWS in Gondelsheim
IAAS at KWS in Gondelsheim

For the first time in the history of the International Association of students in Agricultural and related Sciences (IAAS) Germany the two existing committees of Bonn and Hohenheim organized a joint event. The seminar with the topic “How Green is German Agriculture?” was hosted at the beginning of May and supported by our great sponsors. It took us from Stuttgart in the southern part of Germany to Bonn in the western part and we were glad to host 30 students from Spain, Switzerland, Germany, Greece, UK, Russia, Georgia, Bangladesh and the US.

 

Due to the fact that not only the European Union is changing its agricultural policy, also IAAS Internationals topic of the year is „Greening Agricultural Policy“ IAAS Germany decided to show a possible implementation of the new agriculture policy at the example of Germany’s multifunctional agriculture sector. To do that we visited different farms and companies working in and close with the primary sector to understand how they are dealing with the ongoing and upcoming changes.

 

Sunday, May 4th “Arrival” University of Hohenheim-Day

All the participants arrived in good order and on time. As they were very curious to see the university we launched a scavenger hunt in the main yard of the Hohenheim castle, where the participants had to answer questions about Germany and the region of Baden-Württemberg. To make the international participants familiar with German eating culture we ended the day with a barbecue with typical German food.

 

Monday, May 5th “The Filder region” PROPLANTA-Day

In the morning we visited a farm in the Filder region which is owned by the family Bayha. We started with a tour through the storing and the processing halls. After that we drove through the fields and made several stops and Mr. Bayha gave us first-hand information of the crops which his family grows. Subsequently we had a snack with all the different kinds of vegetables grown on the farm.

In the afternoon we had the opportunity to visit the “Deutsches Landwirtschaftsmuseum” in Hohenheim. Our guide showed us different examples of dried cereals and our foreign visitors had to determine the different varieties. After that we received a brief introduction into the history of tillage and the different construction types of ploughs.


In the evening we went to the “Volksfest“ which was a pleasant surprise for the participants.

 

KWS-Day, May 6th “Modern Agribusiness”

Before the visit of the breeding company KWS in Gondelsheim we passed Maulbronn on the way from Stuttgart-Hohenheim. There we had a guided tour through the Maulbronn monastery, a well preserved medieval Cistercian monastery, which nowadays is part of the UNESCO World Heritage. According to the story we were told there, this is supposed to be the place where the famous German „Maultasche“ has been invented.

In the early afternoon we traveled to Gondelsheim to visit the maize breeding department of the Kleinwanzlebener Saatzucht AG. Dr. Kreps prepared a very interesting lecture about hybrid maize breeding for us. First he gave general information about the company and the crops they focus on. Then he explained the structure of a hybrid maize breeding program: inbred line development with a special focus on the double haploid technique, testcross seed production and hybrid performance test. After

Dr. Kreps lecture we had the opportunity to get a tour around the breeding station. We were impressed by the enormous amount of work which stands behind the breeding and the friendly working atmosphere in the company.

After a one hour drive we arrived at our group house in the middle of a forest which belonged to the skiing club Mannheim. That evening the participants had the opportunity to learn how to make one of the most famous traditional German dishes, especially in the Swabian region: “Käsespätzle“ with lots of onions. Of course everybody loved it!

 

Wednesday, May 7th “Modern Agribusiness”

On the next morning another highlight awaited us: a visit to the John Deere factory in Mannheim – Germany’s biggest manufacturer of agrotechnology. After a short overview of the factory we received a guided tour through the impressive production halls. We were able to get a deeper insight into the manufacturing of gearwheels, the engine manufacture centre, the assembly of transmissions and the final assembly. In the end we visited the John Deere Forum and had a lecture followed by a discussion about “Sustainable Agricultural Energy - Supply and Consumption Concepts” where we got an idea of future engines running on alternative fuels.

 

Our next destination was BASF the worlds largest chemical company, headquartered in Ludwigshafen. Before our visit to the chemical plant we were warmly welcomed in the agricultural center ”Limburgerhof” of BASF. There a presentation was given about the structure of the company, especially the agricultural division was presented to us. Thereafter we were given a very interesting insight into the production of pesticides and had a unique view into the greenhouses and other facilities. The participants were impressed on how this large company puts a lot of effort into plant protection research.

Afterwards we visited the chemical plant which is situated next to the river Rhine. With its uncountable pipelines and an area as big as 1’400 football fields its the largest chemical plant in the world, we got to know. Fortunately we visited it by bus.

Back in our accommodation the president of IAAS International, Genna Tesdall, introduced our new members with a short presentation on IAAS. Later we enjoyed the evening and had interesting conversations about the different agriculture standards of the participants countries of origin.

 

The second part of the seminar took place in North Rhine-Westphalia and should show the participants the contrast of the the large-scale agricultural production and research to a smaller scaled production and focus on organic production in order the answer the question on how green German agriculture is?

 

Thursday, May 8th “Food through Recycling”


Our next destination was Cologne. The drivers decided to take a narrow but beautiful road along the river Rhine, where we saw lots of castles, wine yards, ships and picturesque villages. After the arrival in Cologne at noonday, we visited the German Aerospace Centre (DLR) for a presentation by Dr. Jens Hauslage, a scientist leading the research project called Combined regenerative organic food production (C.R.O.P.). An interesting lecture in which Dr. Hauslage vividly illustrated his vision of closed nutrient cycles and new composting systems based on water was followed by a fascinating insight into his laboratories. There we were shown how his ideas with water as the ‘new soil’ for hydroponic plant breeding systems in combination with a special bio filter system work.
 After arriving to Bonn in the evening, we shared a nice time getting to know the committee from Bonn while we enjoyed a tasty meal at a typical German restaurant. In the evening we went on a little sightseeing tour through the city center to add some more cultural activities to our seminar.

 

University of Bonn-Day, May 9th “Alternative Farming”

The next morning we started early in order to drive to the Eifel, where we visited the only hop plantation ‘Hof Dick’ in Rhineland-Palatinate surrounded by a beautiful landscape.
 At the plantation we were introduced to the history of the famous German hop production and were shown around the farm. In addition, we gained a lot of new knowledge about the biology of hop plants, the features of how to grow and harvest them. At the end we were invited to taste „the best beer in the world called Bitburger“, accordingly to the producer.

So close to the border, the participants convinced the organizers to make a quick stop in Echternach a small but very charming town in Luxembourg.

 

For the second part of our program we travelled to Hennef where we visited the ecological research farm ‘Wiesengut’ of the University Bonn. We gained insight into numerous different aspects of organic farming - not only during a guided tour through the stables and fields but also during the following thought-provoking discussion with Dr. Neuhoff.


 We were able to ask all our questions, from cultivation methods to the future of organic agriculture in Germany and worldwide.

In the evening our mandatory IAAS-‘Trade Fair’ took place on a romantic camping site where we spent the night. Eight different countries presented their traditional food and drinks as well as traditional clothing filling the evening with wonderful new flavors for our taste buds and invigorating ideas for our minds as a lot of interesting conversations were held. It was a complete success.

 

Saturday, May 10th “Research for the Future”


Saturday - the official last day of our seminar - started with a visit to the research station ‘AgroHort’ of the University Bonn close to Meckenheim. We were given an informative presentation about the developments at this station and recent research projects, at which we later took a closer look.

The main topic of that day was ‘renewable energies’, so we saw several energy plants for Miscanthus, popular trees or Paulownia wood grown in Meckenheim.


We were introduced to the entire process - from cultivation, harvesting and drying to the final use of the product, i.e. in the form of pellets, bioplastic or window frames.


It was very impressive to see the high potential that is hidden behind the use of renewable energies, especially for the future of our energy supply, and the participants thought that it is good that there is an increasing demand for research in this field.
 Afterwards we were able to take a look into other very modern

greenhouses, where not only their function was explained, but also the running experiments inside as well.


The last seminar point helped us properly conclude the cycle of our program as we gained an insight into the greenhouses of Dr. Hauslage, who works cooperatively with the University of Bonn and ‘AgroHort’, this way making one last connection to the research project he introduced to us on Thursday.

 

We sure got a great impression of German agriculture during this week but not only were the participants given an idea on how green German agriculture is, thoughts were exchanged, new friendships were made and different cultures exchanged. To sum up we would like to quote one of the participants: „It was probably the the most intensive and informative week of my life“.

 

IAAS Germany would like to thank all the participants for their great interest and motivation during this seminar.

It is beyond all doubt that this seminar could not have been arranged without the generous help of the sponsors and the University of Bonn and Hohenheim, whom we would hereby like to thank:

 

Proplanta GmbH & Co. KG

Kverneland Group Deutschland

KWS SAAT AG

Beiselen GmbH

Bäckerei und Konditorei Treiber GmbH

Initiative Domäne Oberfeld e.V.

mymuesli GmbH

Peter Kölln KGaA

Katjes Fassin GmbH + Co. KG

Hochwald Foods GmbH

Universitätsgesellschaft Bonn

Universitätsbund Hohenheim e.V.

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Rhineland meets Swabia...=)

We spent a wonderful motivation weekend from the 25th-27th october with the members of IAAS Hohenheim. On Friday we arrived in the afternoon-looking forward to spending three exciting days with our partner committee.

 

After a traditional dinner with so called “Maultaschen”, we took part in a tour around the wonderful campus and visited the castle of the University.

That evening we planned the further organization, coordinated upcoming events and discussed how to work together efficiently (Exchange Program, founding a third committee in Berlin etc.)..

The highlight of the day was our compulsory ´Fair Trade`. The countries presenting their regional specialities were Netherlands, Switzerland and Germany (Rhineland and Swabia).

The next morning, IAAS Hohenheim had arranged a meeting with a member of the airport of Stuttgart. We got the chance to take an interesting look behind the scenes.

 

Later on, we cooked typical Swabian food, natural for the region where Hohenheim is located. It is called “Cheesy Spätzle”. This meal is made of a sort of noodles cooked with a lot of cheese and onion in an ovenproof dish.
With a really full stomach we started a “sightseeing by night” in Stuttgart which presented us this city as a quite good place to live.

 

On Sunday we visited the agricultural museum after some last discussions in the morning.
The museum informed us well about several agricultural topics (e.g. plant diseases).

 

All in all, the journey was a pleasure and we would love to visit Hohenheim again.

Again our great thank-you for that!
We look forward to continuing our good cooperation together! =)

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IAAS-Seminar „Different Dudes, Innovative Agriculture in South-West Germany”

30 people, 7 countries, 3 cars, 2 minibuse and 755 km of driving, this was the IAAS Seminar in Germany 2013, which the IAAS Hohenheim committee hosted at the end of April and the beginning of May 2013, thanks to our great sponsors.

 

„Different Dudes, Innovative Agriculture in South-West Germany”, was the title of our Seminar. It took place in Baden-Wuerttemberg and we were glad to host 30 students from Slovenia, Greece, Russia, Poland, Spain, Switzerland and Germany.

 

The focus of the seminar was to present innovative, modern and new methods related to agriculture. Different lectures and presentations were answering questions about environment, GMOs, honey bees and the fruit production at Lake Constance. Besides this we made excursions to the cities of Meersburg, Tübingen and Stuttgart. However let us start at the very beginning.

Sunday, 28th of April 2013: Arrival

All the participants arrived in good order and on time. Some of them arrived by car, others by train or by plane making detours via Paris and Amsterdam. As they were very curious to see the university we launched a scavenger hunt in the main area of the Hohenheim castle, where the participants had to answer questions about Germany and the region of Baden- Wuerttemberg. To make the international participants familiar with German eating culture we ended the day with a barbeque with typical German food.

 

Monday, 29th of April 2013: “Structural change in the Allgäu” AGROGEN-Day

On our first excursion day we were expecting a very contrasting programme.

First we visited “Rapunzel Naturkost GmbH” a family business in Legau, pioneer in organic and fair trade commodity trading since the early 70’s and able to constantly increase sales and product diversity during the last 40 years. Before the tour of the company, including the Rapunzel Museum, we were shown a movie about the development of the firm. The visit at Rapunzel ended with a discussion about genetically modified organisms, this year’s topic of IAAS International.

 

Afterwards we visited a dairy farm run by the family Endress in Bad Grönenbach, a very different example of the structural change occurring in agriculture in this region. This farm experienced a rapid growth, particularly during the last 10 years. The participants were very impressed by the milk production with 1500 dairy cows. The diary farm was combining its production with renewable energy from a photovoltaic and biogas plant. We had the chance to get an insight into large-scale production systems, as well as first hand information about the benefits and challenges facing the young farmer in his day-to-day business.

 

Tuesday, 30th of April 2013: “Specialised crops in the Lake Constance region” KWS-Day

This day was devoted to specialised crops and niche products. The “Lake Constance region” is famous for its fruit production, and the area around Tettnang is one of the three most important hops production areas in Germany.

 

In the morning we visited a hops farm with attached museum about hops production in Siggenweiler. We got to know the modern way of cultivating hops on the farm as well as its contrast, the historical hops growing in the Museum.

 

In the afternoon we visited the “Marktgenossenschaft Obst vom Bodensee”, a farmers cooperative with own brand, commercialising fruits produced in the region. After an introduction to the cooperative’s structure we had the chance to visit a large packaging site for apples in Eriskirch (peak production of 250 t/day).

In the evening the traditional Trade Fair took place. Participants from the different countries presented their most typical food and drinks as well as traditional clothing from their home countries.

Wednesday, 1st of May 2013: “Labour‘s day”

 

In the morning we organised a workshop about project management whereas the participants learned about organising events and managing teams in order to reach a common goal.

In the afternoon we went to Lake Constance for a sightseeing tour through the historical town of Meersburg.

 

For supper our guests had to rise to the challenge of making the traditional Swabian food “Käse-Spätzle”.

 

Thursday, 2nd of May 2013: “Innovation at the Swabian Alb” AMAZONE-Day

Leaving the beautiful region at Lake Constance and heading again back towards Hohenheim, we visited a water-buffalo farm at the Swabian Alb. This farm has recently diversified its production away from traditional dairy farming by introducing water-buffalos to the region and starting a speciality cheese production: among others Albzarella, which is an own creation, a type of mozzarella cheese.

 

In the afternoon we visited the “Climate garden” of the transition town movement in Tübingen. The “transition town”-movement is aiming to make society more resilient in response to peak oil and climate change. The “Climate garden” as a permaculture project, is an example of sustainable urban agriculture, taking unproductive land into cultivation and decreasing urban dependency on external food supply. One of the important projects in the garden is the use of Terra Preta soil.

 

The day ended with a walk through the historical city of Tübingen, followed by our return to the University of Hohenheim.

 

Friday, 3rd of May 2013 “Tradition meets innovation: University of Hohenheim PROPLANTA-Day

The aim was to give our foreign participants an introduction to our home, the University of Hohenheim. Besides a campus-tour we arranged a visit to the Institute for Apiculture in the morning where we were shown the beehives and discussed about the problems of beekeeping today. In the afternoon a visit to the museum for agrarian technology, the “Deutsches Landwirtschaftsmuseum” was on the program. In the evening we once again focused on the topic of apiculture and watched the new documentary “More than Honey”, which was followed by a lively discussion.

 

An evaluation of the seminar and the different aspects of the programme took place in the evening.

 

Saturday, 4th of May 2013: “Stuttgart” HORSCH-Day

In the morning we held a guided sightseeing tour through the city centre of Stuttgart to get to know the characteristics. In the afternoon we visited the famous “Mercedes-Benz-Museum” and ended our seminar with a visit to the “Stuttgarter Wasen”, a local spring fair taking place during this time of the year.

 

We want to thank all the participants for their great interest and motivation during this seminar.

It is beyond all doubt that this Seminar could not have been arranged without the generous help of our sponsors and our University, whom we would hereby like to thank:

AGCO

AGROGEN Stiftung Schweiz

Amazonen Werke H. Dreyer GmbH & Co.KG

Bäckerei und Konditorei Treiber GmbH 

BEISELEN GmbH

CLAAS KGaA mbH

GEA Farm Technologies GmbH

HORSCH Maschinen GmbH

KWS SAAT AG

Obst vom Bodensee Vertriebsgesellschaft

Proplanta GmbH & Co. KG

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IAAS ExWeek Greece Mai 2013

In May the IAAS Thessaloniki invited the IAAS Germany to an exchange week. Two members of IAAS Hohenheim and three of IAAS Bonn took the chance to visit them. Beside the IAAS Germany, students from IAAS France were joining us on the trip. During the week we got an insight into Greek agriculture, we visited a company, which was specialized in organic product export, went to a blueberry farm and saw the trial fields of the University of Thessaloniki. We took part in discussion about the chances and possibilities of the local agriculture and listened to speeches about beekeeping. Worth mentioning is also, that we had the chance to do a little of beekeeping by ourselves. Also we had an interesting tour to two small companies, of which one produced natural cosmetics and the other one was a family ran cigar company. From Wednesday to Friday we stayed in the region of Drama, about three hours by train from Thessaloniki, where we visited a winery and where our trade fair took place. On our last day we made a tour through the beautiful old city.

To sum up, we passed an extraordinary week in Greece. Last but not least, we enjoyed the good weather and warm Greek sun.

 

JES

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IAAS Spain CAP-Seminar 2013

The IAAS Hohenheim has sent two members to participate at the Seminar "The Future of Common Agricultural Policy" (CAP) in Madrid, Spain.

​Sunday and Monday we spent in Villaviciosa de Odon a small town only 15 km from Madrid, where we were accommodated really nice. This was also the place where the traditional Trade Fair was held off.

Over 30 IAAS Members from Belarus, Portugal, Slovenia, Sweden, Switzerland, Iowa (U.S.) and Spain brought delicious typical food and drinks from their own countries and with a IAAS-Harlem Shake an awesome evening was guaranteed.

 

In Madrid we visited the campus of the Polytechnic University for Agriculture, the Greenhouses of Retiro and many other beautiful places in the city. A unique insight into the Mahou Company and the Ministry of Agriculture was provided.

Also at the Ministry of Agriculture more practical aspects of the CAP were being explaind as well as the effects of the legislation in the agrarian society and the future of the policy.

 

Different lectures gave answers to questions such as, when CAP was created, how it contributed to the EU binding, which are the main controversial aspects and which are the reforms planned.

 

To sum up, we were spending a legendary week in "Madrixxx". During the highly informative time we learned many things about the CAP, the EU, got to know Madird and its beautiful places, and met many interessting people from all over the world.

 

A huge thank you to the IAAS Spain for organising such a good Seminar.

omk

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2.11. - 4.11.2012 Motivationswochenende

 

Es ging am Freitag mit einem gemütlichen Zusammensein mit selbstgemachten Käsespätzle und einer mexikanischen Spezialität los. Am Tag darauf veranstalteten wir für uns und Interessierte ein Training zum Thema Konfliktmanagement. Anschließend bereitete uns die Ex-Presidentin vom IAAS international ein leckeres südamerikanisch Abendessen zu. Trotz heftigen Regenschauern ließen wir uns das Musikfeuerwerk und weitere Veranstaltungen im Rahmen von „Stuttgart City Leuchtet“ nicht entgehen. Jonas zeigt uns zudem die Stuttgarter Innenstadt bei Nacht.

 

Am letzten Tag unseres Motivationswochenendes gingen wir zum offizielleren Teil über. Im Anschluss an das gemeinsame Frühstück wurde ein neuer Vorstand für IAAS Deutschland gewählt, sowie über die Zukunftspläne von IAAS Deutschland gesprochen.

 

Insgesamt hatten wir alle viel Spaß und durften ein sehr schönes und auch effektives Wochenende in Hohenheim verbringen.

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IAAS-Weltkongress in Bonn

Agrarstudenten eine Woche zu Besuch in Bonn

2012 waren Deutschland und Belgien die Gastgeber des IAAS-Weltkongresses.  Die internationalen Teilnehmer waren vom 29.Juli bis zum 6. August 2012 zu Gast in Deutschland. Unser Komitee in Bonn war für Organiation zuständig. Die Studenten hatten die Möglichkeit im Laufe der Woche die Landwirtschaft in Deutschland besser kennenzulernen. Als Ausgangspunkt der zahlreichen Exkursionen diente uns das beschauliche Dörflchen Urft.

Zu den Programmpunkten zählte natürlich der Besuch der Bonner Innenstadt, sowie Exkursionen zu verschiedensten landwirtschaftlicher Betriebe, vom biologisch wirtschaftendem Milchviehbetrieb bis hin zu Landwirten mit modernster Biogasanlage.

Außerdem kam auch der kulturelle Austausch nicht zu kurz, sei es beim gemeinsamen Grillen, Karneval oder dem IAAS-Development-Fund.

 

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29.04.- 05.05.2012 Austauschwoche in Hohenheim und am Bodensee

 

Unsere Austauschwoche stand unter dem Motto "Agri-Culture between Tradition and Innovation". Wir hatten Studenten aus Kroatien, Griechenland und Polen zu Gast.

 

Die gemeinsame Woche war für uns mit dem Ziel verbunden, den Teilnehmern einen Einblick in die traditionelle Landwirtschaft in Baden-Württemberg zu geben, sowie innovative Firmen und Betriebe vorzustellen.

 

Die Austauschwoche fand in Stuttgart statt enthielt aber auch einen zweitägigen Ausflug zum Bodensee. Dort besuchten wir verschiedene Gemüse- und Obstbaubetriebe, grillten am See und bereiteten standesgemäß Käsespätzle zu.

 

Wenn ihr mehr erfahren möchtet, könnte ihr auch gerne unseren detailierten Bericht durchlesen.

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Exco-Meeting in Bonn, 25.05. - 29.05.2011

"Farmers go international"

There will be days full of new experiences, work and a lot of of IAAS action. Of course, the Exchange Coordinator meeting aims to improve the quality of our exchange system as well as guide and teach our new and motivated Exchange Coordinators (YOU!). Furthermore, you will experience the famous IAAS spirit and Germany in spring time (-;

The most important information:

  • 25th - 29th of May 2011 in the region of Bonn Germany
  • Participation fee will be at most 75 Euro
  • You find the application form, the preparation document and a schedule in the download section of IAASWORLD.ORG, click here! (To download, you need to register at IAASWORD.ORG. You find the documents under Events>Europe)
  • Application deadline is the 30th of March

Exchange Week in Berlin, 02.10. - 10.10.2010

 

Anfang Oktober 2010 organisierte der IAAS Bonn unter dem Motto "Cross the border - cross the nature" eine Exchange Week, zu der Studenten aus Polen, der Türkei, Belgien und Luxemburg eingeladen waren. Thematisch ging es dabei um den Konflikt zwischen Landwirtschaft und Naturschutz mit besonderem Augenmerk auf die Entwicklungen in verschiedenen Ländern bedingt durch die frühere Teilung Europas.


Seminar "From Field to Fork", 25.10. - 01.11.2009

 

Im November 2009 kamen Agrarstudenten aus 6 Ländern (Polen, Tschechische Republik, Weißrussland, Spanien, Griechenland und Belgien) nach Bonn, um etwas über verschiedene Prozessketten in der deutschen Landwirtschaft zu lernen, wobei der Fokus auf dem Vergleich konnventionelle und organische Landwirtschaft lag.