HofLabor
On-Farm Innovation for Regenerative Mosaic- Farming
Innovation meets agriculture
At HofLabor we are developing regenerative mosaic farming in order to contribute to solving the most urgent problems of our time: from air, water and soil pollution to biodiversity loss and climate change. Why is this necessary? Because nature conservation and food production are unfortunately often in conflict today - and this is why environmental goals are systematically missed.
Regenerative farming is an accepted solution. However, there is a lack of methods, machines and management tools to be able to produce reliably - especially in arable and vegetable farming.
All these ideas are not new and many farmers are experimenting with elements of regenerative farming. However, a lot of development is still needed to turn these approaches into robust methods that can be used for reliable production. With the HofLabor we want to go through this learning curve so that others can build on it.
Where we come from
The HofLabor evolved from the original pioneer farm SlowGrow - founded to develop methods to make products from regenerative farming available to all. In the meantime, SlowGrow is a successful production company and operates vegetable and arable farming on about 20 hectares around Zurich and cultivates various special crops with innovative mulch-mix cultures. SlowGrow markets all its products itself, mainly to the catering trade in Zurich and various bakeries. And the innovation department has also grown. In order to be able to give more space to both production and innovation and to start collaborating with other pioneer farms, we founded the HofLabor as a separate organisation at the end of 2021.
What we intend
Toolbox
We develop agricultural methods and test machines that allow us to regenerate soils, manage weeds without pesticides and at the same time produce efficiently
Digital Tools
We develop and test digital tools to use and efficiently manage the potential of nature - from cultivation planning to daily implementation in the field
Impact proof
We measure our impact on environmental goals and economic viability and test new measurement methods for soil activity and biodiversity
Pioneer Network
We are building a network of innovative farmers with whom we develop and test together
Where we stand
We are currently testing more than 800 strips on three pioneer farms. We are currently developing eight key machines that allow the soil to be regenerated. We have already implemented task management and field observations in our mosaic management tool.
800
stripes
3
pioneer farms
8th
machinery
What we track
In regenerative mosaic farming functioning natural processes become the most important production factor.
Toolbox methods & machines
We develop farming methods and test machines that allow us to regenerate soils, manage weeds without pesticides and at the same time produce efficiently
Digital Tools
We develop and test digital tools to use and efficiently manage the potential of nature - from cultivation planning to daily implementation in the field
Pioneer Network
We are building a network of innovative farmers with whom we develop and test together
Our supporters
Über den Migros-Pionierfonds: Der Migros-Pionierfonds sucht und fördert Ideen mit gesellschaftlichem Potenzial. Er ermöglicht Pionierprojekte, die neue Wege beschreiten und zukunftsgerichtete Lösungen erproben. Der wirkungsorientierte Förderansatz verbindet finanzielle Unterstützung mit coachingartigen Leistungen. Der Migros-Pionierfonds ist Teil des gesellschaftlichen Engagements der Migros-Gruppe und wird von Unternehmen der Migros-Gruppe mit jährlich rund 15 Millionen Franken ermöglicht. Weitere Informationen: www.migros-pionierfonds.ch
Seedling unterstützt Initiativen und Organisationen, die innovative Lösungen für den Klimaschutz entwickeln und umsetzen. Der erster Schwerpunkt ist das Landwirtschafts- und Ernährungssystem, das nach der Energieerzeugung die zweitgrösste Ursache für klimaschädliche Emissionen weltweit ist. In diesem Bereich fokussiert Seedling auf die folgenden vier Themenfelder: Nachhaltige und gesunde Ernährung, nachhaltige Lebensmittelproduktionssysteme (inkl. Agrarökologie wie regenerative Landwirtschaft), Kreislaufwirtschaft, Food Waste und Klimabewusstsein.
Weitere Unterstützer:
