The digitization of agriculture has the potential to make the entire agricultural process in crop cultivation and animal husbandry more ecological and economical. In the research work at the Future Agriculture Laboratory, we work with a holistic perspective on agriculture and animal welfare. Our research addresses the complete, highly complex value chain of the agricultural and food industry. Even organic farming benefits from the opportunities of self-learning systems and highly automated machines. Digitization starts for us with seeds, cuttings, or young animals, continues through the farm gate of agricultural enterprises, and ultimately ends up on the plates of consumers.

The targeted research is investigating the impacts of economic decision-making in plant breeding on crop gene pools grounded in genetic information. Difficulties of combining biological, economic and sociological approaches to plant breeding have so far limited the scope and explanatory power of many studies making the economic decision-making of breeding firms a black box. This project shall overcome this gap and be a cornerstone in developing new types of social-ecological analysis of breeding systems. Objective of the pre-study is to assess how adopting new breeding technologies by breeding companies influences individual and aggregate crop genetic diversity. To contribute to this objective the preliminary study will genotype commercial maize, wheat and rapeseed varieties and harmonize these with economic indicators on a firm-variety level. Using economic impact evaluation tools, the research team investigates how the adoption of hybrid systems influences the crop genetic pools. A preliminary genotypic data set will be generated, representative of commercially available varieties over the last 70 years for wheat, rapeseed, and corn in Germany. 

This project's goal is to improve our understanding of the linkages between US agricultural productivity growth, R&D investments, and changing climatic conditions. Research exploring, on the hand, the effects of R&D on agricultural productivity growth, and on the other hand, the effects of extreme weather and climate on agriculture, have largely evolved disjointly. Given the fundamental role of climate in agricultural production, the major projected changes in our climate system , and the strategic role that R&D plays in future technical change, exploring these interconnections has never been more urgent.

Core Project 6 analyzes the potential impact of robotics and phenotyping technologies on agricultural development, welfare, the environment, the landscape, as well as on the farm level. Therefore, we are developing a simulation model for PhenoRob technology diffusion and impact. We are also assessing regional feasibility and the ecological-economic impact in Germany and the rest of the world by analyzing economic barriers and opportunities for the market launch of the inventions. 

Cultivars are generally characterized either by high yield and a need of intensive fungicide treatments or by lower yields and qualities with a reduced need of fungicide treatments. An increase in yield therefore often is accompanied by less sustainable cropping systems. The decision of growers on the choice of the most appropriate cultivar depends on the situation and the location considering economic and ecologic criteria. Growers are, however, not always aware of the resistance properties and deal resistant cultivars like not resistant ones. This project therefore aims at improving knowledge on benefits and costs of different breeding strategies for winter wheat, which is the most important cereal crop in Germany, to support the development of sustainable and efficient wheat cropping systems. Comprehensive field experiments at five different experimental sites in Germany will be applied to evaluate and compare three different winter wheat cropping systems with high-yield, disease resistant and drought-tolerant cultivars treated with differentiated fungicide strategies. Additionally, existing data from long-term field experiments is linked to the assessment. Analyses will on the one hand focus on resource needs by and economical effects on growers. On the other hand, breeding efforts and research with their costs and benefits as well as ecological and socio-economic impacts will be assessed for the whole society. Additional quality and metabolome analyses of wheat samples will help to ensure that the wheat cropping system leads to healthy and secure food and feed. This concept makes benefits and costs obvious to improve the decision process for the most appropriate breeding strategy. Moreover, the practical and efficient use of cultivars will be enhanced and limitations in acceptance and application of sustainable cropping systems can be overcome to ensure the development of sustainable strategies for an increased production of healthy and secure food.