FIELDS AND TECHNIQUE

FIELD & TECHNIQUE

 Duration 2 weeks.

Evaluation and grade is given upon completion as passed/not passed.

 Learn about agricultural machines, technique, and maintenance and become comfortable with the opportunities machines create for the farmer An exciting ”hands on” course with focus on the practical approach that is important for success.

Do you have questions? Contact our Study Supervisor

Annette Esbjerg Jensen Tlf.: 20 37 30 05 Mail: aeje@videndjurs.dk

#makeadifference

”How can we establish a crop in an alternative way? What machinery is there available for reduced tillage in organic farming? How do we maintain and repair machinery? Come find out at Fields and Machinery”

- Guillermo, teacher

EMILIE, 1ST MAIN COURSE

”In field and technique you get an opportunity to discover alternative ways of farming and personally I got excited about big-scale farming for the first time in my life.

You get to know different machines than the traditional plough and the many harrows and inter row-cultivators, which can seem a bit unappealing, because you feel like you’re fighting nature a lot with all these machines while using a lot of fuel.

You start over every season with ruining your soil structure, relying on the ineffective deep litter and the leaching slurry for fertilization, and you’re leaving the plants very weak to pests and fungi attacks. All of this because you’re not letting the microorganisms do the work. Their role is to create structure and build humus, to fertilize and take care of the plants’ health, because they depend on it too. So when you finish the basic course, you’re a bit disillusioned and you think the only answer then is to create a small scale market garden with no-dig beds and a lot of intensive labor, and there is no problem in doing this either. At all. But we need to have at least 30% of the population to be involved with farming instead of the current 3%.

Until this happens we also need to do something about the way we farm on the bigger scale.. we need to find a smarter way of growing, cause otherwise the little market garden is not going to change that much. And this is what the focus is in the field and technique class. You learn about different machines that can be used in organic no-till systems, about how much a tyre pressure can influence the compaction of the soil, how to service a tractor, and you actually get a basic understanding of how an engine and hydraulic systems work.

For me the field and technique class really created a space to think creatively about farming and to discover what is possible, what is already being done and the consequences of the different practices, and at the same time learning a few valuable mechanic skills and a basic understanding of a subject that can otherwise seem very daunting for an inexperienced.”