Second Round of ClimateFarmDemo Farm Demonstrations

The first campaign delivered 278 demo events. Events will be held across a network of 1,500 farms spread across Europe in 27 project partner countries. The target for the second demonstration campaign is to hit 1500 events by the end of September 2025. The farm demonstration events are funded under the Horizon Europe Research and Innovation Programme, and will be delivered by one of the 80 project partners.

Demonstration farms and on-farm demonstration events have a long history and have become an important part of efforts to improve agricultural practices. It is widely recognised that farmers learn from other farmers. The emonstration farmers in the ClimateFarmDemo project perform two key roles: (1) they incorporate new or existing climate smart farming practices into their farming systems (with the support of trained advisors); and (2) they demonstrate the outcomes to other farmers. Demonstration events to date have mainly been delivered on farms of Pilot Demonstration Farmers involved in the project. However, events have also been held virtually and off farm in person. Through on-farm demonstrations, other farmers can obtain practical, tangible experiences of farming methods and technologies that they can subsequently use to improve their own farming practices. The demonstration farmers play a key role through the provision of their practical insights concerning the new practice or technology. The demonstration farmers were identified through the project partners and as part of their participation in the project have agreed to host other farmers, rural professionals, students and consumers on their farms for a farm demonstration event. To date the farm events held have been very successful. The current project builds on previous projects, such as PLAID, AgriDemo and NEFERTITI.

Mairead McGuinness, EU Commissioner for Financial Services, Financial Stability and Capital Markets Union was the main speaker at the launch of the Climate Farm Demo second demonstration campaign.

Commissioner McGuinness said; “Improving European competitiveness is a top priority for Member States and Commission. Research and invocation is key to unlocking European potential. The EU’s Horizon Europe is the world’s largest publicly funded research and innovation programme. It tackles shared challenges, like climate change and building our digital future. Researchers from Ireland are driving essential parts of these European projects, including several agricultural initiatives led by Teagasc. The three initiatives being launched today – Climate Farm Demo, SafeHabitus and RefreSCAR, are excellent examples of what we can achieve with Horizon Europe funding. These initiatives will tackle emission reductions, improve farm sustainability and address the significant data gaps on farm accidents and fatalities, helping to make real progress on vital Topics.”

The farm demonstrations delivered in the first annual campaign have focused on a range of topics including: introducing the demonstration farmer, climate mitigation and adaptation measures, results of GHG audit, climate solutions already adopted by the demonstration farmer, climate action plan for the demonstration farmer and inspection of the farming system.

Over the next number of years it will be exciting to see the climate smart practices implemented on the farms and how the farming systems change.

“Demonstrating climate solutions on commercial farms across Europe will accelerate the adoption of these solutions by European farmers. Farm demonstrations are a recognised means of enabling farmers to acquire the knowledge and skills necessary to adopt new practices and to modify their farming practices in the face of both challenges and opportunities” according to Dr. Tom O’Dwyer, Teagasc.

The events will be of interest not only to farmers but other rural professionals with an interest in finding out more about the practical steps being taken by EU farmers to reduce their GHG emissions. Further details of planned events for year two of each country are available on ClimateFarmDemo.