Advancing agriculture

In Ostenfeld, near Rendsburg, the Faculty of Agriculture maintains a highly productive field experimentation site, located on the edge of the East Holstein hill country on a thick layer of soil (luvisol, AZ 50). A range of agricultural problems is investigated at this facility, with a great emphasis on testing plant protection products. New varieties of grain, rape, corn, sugar beet and grasses are tested, not only to determine their characteristics but, increasingly, to assess their suitability as energy suppliers for use in biogas power plants or for direct thermal use.

Optimised equipment technology, tightly organised work methods and the full commitment of all employees secure high-quality data from field experiments. The experimental fields have been certified under the "good experimental practice" (GEP) criteria and thus also permit the conduct of field trials as required for the authorisation of plant protection products. A wide range of services can be contracted, both in the development of crop varieties and in the focal area of plant protection.

Range of R&D services

Agricultural experimental fields

• Conduct of field experiments on agricultural crops (grain, rape, legumes, flax, sugar beet, maize, grass, forage crops)
• Complete installation and conduct of field experiments, including the determination of crop yields
• Experiments generally conducted on large plots and only the cores of crops are harvested using combine harvesters, foliage plant harvesters or maize choppers
  
  

Agricultural chemistry laboratory

• Determination of quality parameters for harvested crops (HLW, TGW, crude protein, starch, etc.)
• Analysis of plant chemistry (e.g., crude protein, starch, fibre fractions including lignin, TGW, HLW, ash content, nutrient elements, heavy metals)
• Analysis of soils (pH, nutrient elements including sulphur, organic substances, heavy metals)
• Further analyses after consultation with the client