Primärt – Forum för hållbart lantbruk

What development needs does your horticultural business have, and how can advisory services and research help you address them?

Extreme weather and climate change are affecting the production of vegetables, fruit, and berries, particularly in open-field cultivation. Meeting these sustainability challenges requires increased dialogue between primary producers, advisors, and researchers.

The project Från behov till bord - kunskapsutvecklingsmetodik för svensk hortikultur (From Need to Table - Knowledge Development Methodology for Swedish Horticulture), funded by the Swedish Board of Agriculture, focuses on participant-driven and challenge-based research and advisory services. During this session, you'll hear more about the project and also have the opportunity to contribute your thoughts to the needs analysis, which in turn will lay the groundwork for both next season's field trials and future research ideas centered on the grower's needs.

Data has become one of the most important resources of the farm – but who controls it, who bears responsibility, and who shares in the value it creates? This track explores how sensors, AI and connected systems can improve decision-making, animal welfare and resilience without farmers losing control over their own production. How do we build secure and transparent data flows that create tangible value on the farm, in advisory services and across the entire value chain?

Meet farmers, researchers, advisors and industry voices in a conversation about the rules of the game for a digitalisation that is both profitable and responsible.

Digital technologies are increasingly shaping how sustainability challenges in agriculture and food systems are understood, monitored, and addressed. This track explores how digitalization influences environmental, social, and economic sustainability by examining the role of technologies such as artificial intelligence, digital platforms, and IoT in improving resource efficiency, supporting sustainable production, and strengthening decision-making. It also considers the sustainability impacts of these technologies themselves.

Increasing the number of different crops in rotation, growing cover crops and flower strips, splitting large fields into smaller units, intercropping, mixing varieties, agroforestry… crop diversification entails a broad spectrum of approaches. A foundation for ecosystem services and reduced dependency on external inputs, crop diversity holds promise for resilience and sustainability. But how can it be achieved in practice?

In this track, we will hear examples of feasible introduction and management of diversified cropping systems, and discuss the efficiency of different diversification measures in terms of productivity as well as environmental benefits.

As diets and food systems change, so does the range of crops we grow. New crops and alternative protein sources are opening fresh possibilities for Swedish agriculture, but introducing them raises questions: What does it take to introduce a new crop into an existing rotation? Is there a market, and who is willing to pay for it? How do research, cultivation experience and practical know-how come together to bring a new crop from trial to field? In this track, you will meet farmers, researchers, advisors and industry voices in a conversation about the potential and the pitfalls of diversifying Swedish agriculture with new crops and future proteins.

Soil health has now been a "buzzword" for around 10 years. What has happened during that time? Is it still a hot topic? Do we have better or worse soil health today than we had 10 years ago? Have we succeeded in storing carbon in Swedish agricultural soils? Are we working more actively with it today than before? In this track, you'll meet farmers, researchers, advisors and industry voices in a conversation about the development and future of soil health.

The future of Swedish livestock production needs more than new technology – it needs innovation that strengthens animal welfare, profitability, resource efficiency and preparedness, all at once. We explore how AI, sensors, automation and new management and production solutions can move from promising idea to robust practice on the farm. Which problems are most important to solve, who defines progress, and how do we ensure that innovation actually benefits animals, people and businesses? Here, experience and fresh thinking meet in a conversation about what it takes to achieve competitive, resilient and responsible animal production.

What does the future of farming look like through the eyes of those who will lead it? This track brings together farmers, researchers, advisors and industry voices with direct insight into young farmers' realities, to explore the trends, visions and opportunities shaping the next generation of primary production and to confront the real barriers, from land access to financing to generational change, that hold young farmers back.

The animal environment is never just a building – it shapes animal health, behaviour and welfare, people's working environment, and the farm's economy for many years to come. In this track, we start from the animal's needs and follow the process all the way from the first sketches to technology choices, construction and investment. How do we create flexible, climate-resilient and future-proof environments that promote natural behaviour, good care and safe operation – while making the numbers add up?

Together we discuss how research, practical experience, advisory expertise and industry knowledge can be turned into better decisions before costly choices are locked in.

Promising solutions such as new production methods, technologies or practices often work well in a single field, on a single farm, or in a pilot project – but what happens when they need to scale up, and fast, under pressure? Climate shocks, market volatility and supply disruptions are testing how quickly Swedish agriculture can adapt. What separates a solution that scales from one that stays a niche experiment? How do we build in the flexibility and preparedness needed to respond when a crisis hits, without losing sight of long-term resilience? In this track, you will meet farmers, researchers, advisors and industry voices in a conversation about what it really takes to scale good ideas when time is short and the stakes are high.

Sustainability measures rarely come free; someone has to invest the time, the labour or the capital to make them happen. But what does that cost actually look like in practice, and who ends up carrying it? This track looks at the real trade-offs behind sustainability action on the farm: the investments required, the risks involved and the support (or lack of it) available along the way. How do we make sustainable choices that are not just environmentally sound but also viable for the people making them?

Join us for an exciting study visit and help celebrate the 10th anniversary of the Biotron! 
 
The Biotron is a research facility where climate can be controlled with very high precision. In the facility's climate chambers, researchers can carefully control and vary factors such as temperature, humidity, light, and carbon dioxide - to create optimal conditions for advanced research. 
 
Together we'll visit the Biotron, which will hold an open house with a guided tour of the facility. This is an opportunity to get an inside look at the operations, see the technology up close, and learn more about how controlled climate environments are used in research.