vision & mission
vision
We envision a world where we can produce high quality food while protecting the natural environment through farming in respect with nature.
We believe that we can achieve such a sustainable farming system through organic agriculture.
mission
Improving organic agriculture with research, advisory, dissemination and support activities, thus making agriculture more performant and resilient.
This will empower farmers to implement sustainable farming practices in Luxembourg.
aims & objectives
aims & objectives
IBLA sees the purpose and aims of its efforts in research, consultancy, education and communication on topics of organic agriculture.
These objectives are achieved by:
- Research and development of practical methods for organic and biodynamic agriculture; Taking into account nutritional, ecological and socio-economic aspects.
- Research of aspects of agriculture that are socially relevant;
- The establishment of an extension service for agricultural holdings and public bodies, with the aim to provide organic and biodynamic agriculture with the importance it deserves.
- Education of producers and consumers on organic and biodynamic agriculture as well as promotion of cooperation between producers, trade and consumers.
- Promotion of training in organic and biodynamic agriculture at the training and education centres in Luxembourg.
Since 2015, the IBLA has been a registered non-profit organization and has also been recognized as an official research institute in Luxembourg.
board
the board
FELTEN Claude (agricultural engineer)
-President
COLLING-VON ROESGEN Jean-Louis (farmer)
-Vice President
CONTER Gérard (agricultural engineer)
-Treasurerer
JACOBS Francis (farmer)
KAES Jean-Marie (farmer)
KOEUNE Marco (farmer)
NOESEN Charel (farmer)
SCHANCK Aender (businessman)
-Members
team
+352 621 302 523
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+352 621 287 466
+352 621 647 126
+352 26 15 13-90
+352 621 512 451
+352 621 678 467
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+352 621 751 875
+352 26 15 13-88
+352 621 734 005
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+352 621 677 351
+352 621 302 522
extension services offer agriculture
agriculture
The IBLA extension service for your agricultural holding presents itself
- You are a farmer and want to explore the production and business management possibilities a conversion to organic agriculture can offer your farm?
- You have decided to convert your farm to organic agriculture and need competent advice and support during the conversion phase?
- You are already an organic farmer and need help with a specific problem?
- You want to get first insights into the methods of organic farming?
- You want to profit from the benefits of leguminous crops in your crop rotation and need help in variety selection, production technology and the design of your crop rotation?
If one of these situations applies to you, the IBLA agricultural extension service has just the right offers for you. Our advisers have knowledge in all fields of organic agriculture due to their education and many years of practical experience. We combine research and practice and offer a wide range of extension services suited to fit your professional and personal needs. Our advisers are active both on a regional and Europe-wide level to provide you with the best service.
They offer a wide range of advice, from arable land and grassland to animal husbandry and feeding. They are your contact before and during the conversion. Their consulting services include crop rotation, fertilization and soil cultivation in field fodder and crop production with the aim of increasing natural soil fertility and yield potential.
You can profit from their long-standing experience and their knowledge regarding animal health and performance. This includes questions related to breeding, keeping, feeding and ration calculation, as well as grassland-management and improvement.
Variety recommendations are based on the results of our variety trials. Another focus of IBLA is the cultivation of legumes. Here you can benefit from our experience gained through field experiments on cultivation techniques and variety trials. Business analyses and individual support in the implementation of the guidelines for organic agriculture complete our offers in the agricultural extension service.
extension services and further education offers
Take advantage of IBLA's extension service and further education offers and benefit from years of experience in consulting and research. Arrange a personal consultation on your farm or choose from the IBLA modules the one best suited for your farm:
- Module 15.1: Organic agriculture – Pre-transitional initial consultation (for conventional holdings)
- Module 15.2: Organic agriculture – Pre-transition, intensive (for conventional holdings)
- Module 16: Organic agriculture – Transition (for holdings under conversion)
- Module 17a: Organic agriculture (for certified organic holdings)
- Module 17b: Methods of organic agriculture (for conventional holdings)
- Module 8: Legume cultivation (for all holdings)
- Module 9: Group consultation on crop production (for all holdings)
contact extension services agriculture
Jean-Paul Weis
Mobile +352 621 39 27 48
Svenja Zelder
Mobile +352 621 75 18 75
Ben Mangen
Mobile +352 621 49 40 09
extension services offer viticulture
viticulture
The IBLA extension service for organic viticulture presents itself
- You already make use of the natural biological processes in many areas of production and want to explore the production and business management possibilities a conversion to organic viticulture can offer your winery?
- You have decided to change your winery to organic viticulture and you need competent advice and support during the conversion phase?
- You already are an organic winegrower and want the latest information in plant protection during the vegetative phase? You want competent expertise and want to be part of a strong network?
- You want to get insight into organic cultivation methods?
Then IBLA Viticulture Consulting has exactly the right offers for you! Thanks to his training and many years of practical experience, our viticulture consultant has knowledge in all areas of organic viticulture. He is well networked regionally and Europe-wide and will support you. IBLA Viticulture Consulting combines research and practice and offers a comprehensive range of advice according to your winery-specific and personal requirements.
Jörg Pauly, who has managed his own organic winery for 20 years, studied agricultural sciences at the University of Bonn and then became a PhD in agricultural sciences (Dr. agr.). These studies were followed by 10 years of scientific work in agricultural and landscape research, as well as 20 years of managing his own organic winery. He will be happy to support you and give you advice in all matters relating to viticulture. From organic cultivation in the vineyard, to soil and greening maintenance, to plant protection and organic winemaking, he will advise you according to your operational goals and personal wishes. Wine-growing businesses are given targeted support both, before, during and after the conversion. In doing so, attention is always paid to the individual winery and weather-related conditions. Regular inspection rounds in the vineyards as well as newsletters during the growing season provide you with the most important current information on. Become part of a grown consulting community that is in close contact with practice and research.
extension services and further education offers
Take advantage of IBLA's extension service and further education offers and benefit from years of experience in consulting and research. Arrange a personal consultation on your winery or choose from the IBLA modules the one that best suited for you:
- Module 23.1: Organic viticulture – Pre-transitional initial consultation (for conventional holdings)
- Module 23.2: Organic viticulture – Pre-transition, intensive (for conventional holdings)
- Module 24: Organic viticulture – Transition (for holdings under conversion)
- Module 25a.1: Organic viticulture – soil fertility (for certified organic holdings (
- Module 25b.2: Methods used in organic viticulture – plant health (for conventional, partially converted and certified organic holdings (>0,1 ha))
contact extension services viticulture
Jörg Pauly
Mobile +352 621 677 351
communication
network of demonstration farms
organic agriculture Luxembourg
Our goal is to provide consumers and conventional farmers, processors and merchants with an insight into organic agriculture and through farm visits, festivals and practice days to our 9 demonstration farms. These visits offer a practice oriented insight into the everyday life on an organic farm and winery, as well as the special quality, the opportunities and challenges of organic agriculture.
In addition, the demonstration farms provide information on their production focus and marketing forms, as well as regional growing conditions. For this reason, organic farms from different regions and with different main branches have been selected to show the variety of organic agriculture in Luxembourg.
If you want to visit one of these demonstration farms, contact us or the farms directly to make an appointment for your visit. The project “demonstration farms organic agriculture” is an initiative of the Ministry of Agriculture, Viticulture and Consumer protection/ASTA financed within the framework of the organic action plan in Luxembourg.
A Mechels
An Dudel
A Schiewesch
Domaine Sunnen-Hoffmann
Jeekel’s Haff
Karelshaff
Schanck Haff
projects
water protection
Methods of organic farming for the benefit of drinking water protection
alter weizen
Aufbau einer Wertschöpfungskette vom Anbau von alten Weizensorten im biologischen Anbau bis hin zum Bio-Brot
Im Oktober 2022 wurde auf insgesamt 12 Hektar Rotweizen ausgesät, der nach der Ernte im Sommer 2023 verarbeitet werden kann.
fact sheets
Preparation of fact sheets for organic farming
To ensure that the target group of Luxembourg agriculture can be informed in a way that is as tailored as possible to their needs, the IBLA has been drafting relevant technical literature specifically adapted to Luxembourg as a location since 2021. The advantage of such an approach lies in the fact that the knowledge communicated on the basis of existing international technical brochures is both brought together and supplemented by experience gained in-house.
In addition to preparing and publishing leaflets, IBLA is now also working on variety information sheets containing the results of variety trials in organic farming. These are a supplement to the national list of varieties and contain more detailed information on plant development, which covers the special information needs of organic farms.
gypsum-lime power
As this is a demonstration trial, a further objective is the communication of the results as well as the exchange within the network of consultants, scientists and practitioners.
luxembourg in transition
Spatial vision for the zero-carbon and resilient future of the Luxembourg functional region
Spatial vision for the zero-carbon and resilient future of the Luxembourg functional region
In the "Luxembourg in Transition" competition launched by the Spatial Planning Department of the Ministry of Energy and Spatial Planning, we developed together with LIST, the University of Luxembourg, the Center for Ecological Learning Luxembourg (CELL) and OLM paysagistes & urbanistes, how Luxembourg has to change spatially by 2050 in order to become climate-neutral, sustainable and resilient.
Not only aspects of spatial planning, mobility or the modeling of greenhouse gas emissions, but also the way of life of the Luxembourgers, their diet and their consumption, as well as questions of governance are part of the dossiers submitted. Of course, agriculture also plays an important role in these considerations. IBLA supports the elaboration of how Luxembourg´s agriculture could develop spatially and in terms of farm management in order to achieve a sustainable, resilient and less CO2-intensive system. In three competition phases, a metric is developed in the first phase, which serves as the basis for evaluating the change. In the second phase, the necessary transformation steps for the CO2-free and sustainable future are worked out on the scale of the cross-border functional region, whereas in the third phase the remaining project teams show the transformation, the necessary steps towards the zero carbon and resilient future using different case studies.
© The pictures are part of the report “LUXEMBOURG 2050: PROSPECTS FOR A REGENERATIVE CITY-LANDSCAPE”, Phase II: https://luxembourgintransition.lu/en/teams/
soya made in luxembourg
Optimization of the value chain from the soybean to the egg in Luxembourg and further development of soybean cultivation in Luxembourg
The support of the soybean growers by IBLA includes the site selection, the soil preparation, the accompaniment before and during the sowing, the mechanical weed control as well as the harvest and the organization of the delivery to the feed producer SCAR scrl in Belgium, which takes over the further processing in the feed rations for the BIO-OVO laying hens. For the mechanical weed control, the agricultural machinery dealer Wolff-Weyland S.A. supports the farmers by providing the necessary sowing and hoeing equipment.
The aim of the project is to further develop and economically optimize soybean cultivation and the soybean value chain by providing cost-effective but competent advice for the farmer from sowing to harvesting, which will bear fruit in independent cultivation in the long term. In addition, the process of further processing of soybeans is optimized logistically and economically to promote national soybean production and increase protein self-sufficiency.
fabulous farmers
méi weed
Pasture optimization by adapting pasture management to pedoclimatic conditions
In this project, a prediction model of daily grass increment is adapted to Luxembourg pedoclimatic conditions. The forecasts will allow for predictive pasture planning and will help in the future with regular adjustments of grazing areas, feeding of roughage and/or concentrates to grazing animals, etc.
Five pasture-based dairy farms are participating in the project. These pilot farms are located in different pedoclimatic zones throughout Luxembourg. The pilot farms will be intensively accompanied in their pasture management for the whole duration of the project. In this way, the practical benefits of the grass growth model will be implemented on the farms.
In parallel, a survey of consumers will be conducted to determine their added value in pasture management and its influence on their purchasing behavior. Furthermore, a sustainability analysis with the SMART (Sustainability Monitoring and Assessment RouTine)- Farm Tool will be carried out on the pilot farms at the beginning and end of the project in order to develop farm-specific improvement approaches and recommendations and to monitor the development of the farms.
simba
Simulating economic and environmental impacts of dairy cattle management using Agent Based Models
i2connect
Connecting advisors to boost interactive innovation in agriculture & forestry
To enhance and profile the role of advisors in interactive innovation processes, at different scales: by a better understanding of the AKIS at country level, by identifying providers of advisory services across Europe, by creating an enabling environment within advisory services, by better connecting and embedding advisory services within the AKIS and by appropriate public policies.
To create a social support network and a networking culture among advisors facilitating innovative innovation processes. In particular emphasis will be given to ensure that advisors in Central and Eastern European countries make use of the opportunities being created in the project.
2000 m² for our food
Project to promote a sustainable agricultural and food culture
susteatable
Integrated analysis of dietary patterns and agricultural practices for sustainable food systems in Luxembourg
variety trials
in organic agriculture in Luxembourg
• Summer cereal variety trials in 2014-2016, and again since 2019
• Soybean variety trials in 2014, and again since 2018
• Clover grass mixture variety trials in 2013-2015 and again since 2020
• Pea and faba bean variety trials since 2016
• Potato variety trials since 2016
• Maize variety trials since 2020