Our current food production system is reaching its ecological, economic and social limits. The Ministry of Agriculture, Nature and Food Quality has therefore developed a vision for restoring a future-proof agricultural sector in the Netherlands. We call that vision 'circular agriculture'.
Farm of the Future is putting circular agriculture into practice! It’s a form of agriculture that rewards farmers without causing environmental damage, and actually makes a positive contribution to the environments we live in.
Circular agriculture at Farm of the Future aims to deliver:
- A better socio-economic position for farmers
- The restoration and maintenance of natural resources (soil, water, biodiversity)
- A robust production system with resilience to climate stresses such as flood and drought
- Resilient arable farming systems with minimal emissions or damage from crop protection agents
- The restoration of the ecological value of insects, birds and small mammals in agriculture
- An end to the exploitation of finite resources such as fossil fuels and phosphate
- Careful use of water, and irrigation without salinisation
- A shift from climate-neutral to climate-positive
A variety of techniques and circular agriculture applications are being developed, tested and demonstrated at Farm of the Future in order to achieve these aims.