New training prepares farmers for longer dry periods

There is no denying that we are increasingly experiencing drier periods. Margins are shrinking and bottoms are getting more and more exhausted. They have known this problem for some time in the south, where they have been working on agroecology for some time. (continue reading below the photo)

The Living Soil Academy, in which Louis De Jaeger from West Flanders is also involved, is therefore starting a training course. De Jaeger previously wrote the book ‘We eat ourselves to death’ and he argues for more food forests. With the support of the transition fund Kairafund, they can offer training and financial support free of charge, but there is also room for even more students. The intention is to make this type of agriculture more widely known and familiar in Flanders.

“Switching is a multi-year plan and that is perfectly possible,” says De Jaeger. “Every farmer can start with it: from a happy farmer you also get a happy soil and plants.”

The techniques are simple: cleverly planting trees, dividing up a meadow, letting the cattle graze shorter or simply enriching your soil with small organisms such as worms. This way you can achieve great results over time is the message of the course. The first of ten teaching days was today in Zulte, just across the provincial border.