Field trial station under new management

Dr. Markus Weinmann has been responsible for our 15-hectare field trial station since spring 2024. The 50-year-old agronomist from Worms brings with him extensive expertise that he acquired at the University of Hohenheim, where he studied, taught and conducted research. “Very precise field trials can be carried out at Rinkenbergerhof,” emphasizes Weinmann and refers to many years of research into organic fertilization with sewage sludge and other recycled materials, the humus balance in the soil and renewable raw materials, which he particularly values. 

Weinmann, whose resonsibilities at LUFA Speyer also include the management of the seed testing lab, has ambitious plans: he would like to focus the field trial station more on interdisciplinary research into agroecological topics and digitalization and has already applied for EU funding. The focus is on soil health and the development of new business models and sales channels for regional agricultural products. Weinmann would like to procure an irrigation systrem with global positioning and digital control functions in order to irrigate test plots in a differentiated manner. This would make it possible to investigate how plants could be better prepared for drought and heat stress as a result of climate change. These questions also address the objectives of the current Interreg project KlimaCrops, which is developing strategies for adapting arable farming systems to climate change and their contribution to climate protection in the Upper Rhine region. “Such complex questions are best answered in collaboration with other research partners,” he says and plans to further expand LUFA Speyers´ cooperation in this area. He intends to use his dual role at the LUFA Speyer to utilize the possibilities of the seed laboratory, for example by screening biological active ingredients for seed treatment for optimized experimental approaches at the Rinkenbergerhof.

The long-term experiments on the humus balance can be utilized by Weinmann for his studies on soil health, as repeating them four times is an invaluable unique selling point. “The effort that has been put in over several decades pays off here,” he says. They are a good basis for further research. The sewage sludge trials, which have been running for over 50 years, have also produced valuable findings. They have shown that sewage sludge as a fertilizer not only has a humus and nutrient effect, but also leads to an accumulation of pollutants in the soil and the plant. Weinmann sees the incineration of sewage sludge and the processing of the resulting ash for the selective recovery of valuable plant nutrients for the production of high-quality recycled fertilizers as a future alternative. The cultivation of fast-growing woody plants, which was researched in cooperation with the Research Institute for Forest Ecology and Forestry in Trippstadt on the Rinkenbergerhof, has not been successful in practice, as the wood chips from it have found too little sale. Those test plots will now be available for other experiments on current topics.

The exchange with young international researchers is close to Weinmann's heart. He is currently supervising two Master's students from Sri Lanka and India, whose innovative approaches bring a breath of fresh air to his work. He takes a holistic view of agriculture: “What constitutes good agriculture that serves people and preserves creation?”

Weinmann sees close cooperation with farmers and other stakeholders as key to his work. EU research projects in particular offer ideal platforms for linking science and practice: “Only through dialog can we develop solutions that are ecologically and economically sustainable,” says the head of Rinkenbergerhof. With fresh ideas and a clear vision, Weinmann wants to strengthen and further develop the research station as a center of forward-looking, applied agricultural research.