Hemp and Safflower Field Day 2025

Innovation & Diversity in Baden-Württemberg

Date: Friday, 25.07.2025
Time: Presentations 13:00–15:00 · Field Tour from 15:00
Location: University of Hohenheim, Stuttgart, Germany

 

Programme to be published.

 

Registration is not required. However, we kindly request that you register in advance to help us plan.

 

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Hemp in Practical Cultivation – A Traditional Raw Material with Future Potential

Hemp is currently experiencing a renaissance – as a sustainable crop with diverse applications in agriculture, construction, the textile industry, and food. This robust plant stands out for its low cultivation requirements, rapid early development, and its positive effects on soil structure and crop rotation.

For agricultural businesses, hemp offers interesting opportunities: short growing periods, site-adapted varieties, low pesticide requirements, and a wide range of uses – from fiber and seed to whole-plant utilization.

As part of our Hemp Field Day, we aim to provide practical insights into current variety trials, cultivation methods, and utilization concepts. Key features include demonstration plots, trial results from the region, and discussions with breeders, farmers, and processors.

Whether you're a practitioner, advisor, researcher, or simply curious – you're warmly invited to explore the potential of this fascinating crop on site.

Benefits of Hemp Cultivation from the EU’s Perspective

Carbon Storage

One hectare of hemp captures 9–15 tons of CO₂ — comparable to a young forest, but in just 5 months.

Interrupting Disease Cycles

Hemp disrupts disease cycles in crop rotation and suppresses weeds through rapid early growth.

Preventing Soil Erosion

Dense hemp leaves cover the soil early, reduce water loss, and prevent erosion.

Biodiversity

Hemp provides pollen in summer months, food for wildlife, and shelter for birds.

Low Pesticide Use

Hemp rarely needs pesticides — natural predators help control pests effectively.

Source: EU Agriculture

Available Varieties On Site:

Bialobrezeskie
Diocia 88
Djumbo 20
Earlina 8FC
Estica
Fedora 17
Felina 32
Finola
Finola 2
Fiona
Futura 83
Henola
Kompolti
Mona 16
Nashinoide 15
Ostara 9
Santhica 27
Uso 31

Safflower: a versatile and ancient crop with new opportunities?

We cordially invite you to get to know safflower directly in the field and learn more about the potential of this oil plant, which has hardly been used in Germany to date. With its pronounced drought tolerance, suitability as an ecological flowering plant and high-quality oil composition, safflower is exemplary for the crops of the future – especially with regard to climate adaptation, biodiversity and sustainable crop rotation.


During the field day, we will provide insights into current breeding work from the CarthBreed project, present the first promising genotypes and discuss the prospects for safflower in organic and conventional farming with breeders, farmers, processors and other interested parties.

Demonstration plots of the following safflower varieties have been planted:

  • Sabina, historical variety
  • Salem, breeder: Streng-Engelen GmbH & Co. KG
  • Calin, breeder: exsemine GmbH
  • Catima, breeder: Gert Horn
  • Ara, breeder: Research Institute for Fodder Crops, Ltd. Troubsko
  • Tereza, breeder: Research Institute for Fodder Crops, Ltd. Troubsko
  • Dornburger
  • Finch
  • and many more

 

Exchange and cooperation

The field day not only offers technical insights, but also the opportunity to network along the entire value chain. Whether breeding, cultivation, processing or marketing – safflower opens up new perspectives for sustainable agriculture. Together, we want to derive breeding goals, further develop cultivation techniques and plant protection, and discuss market strategies and utilisation pathways. Take this opportunity to meet stakeholders from research, practice and industry and develop concrete starting points for cooperation.

 

 

Breeding of Safflower (CarthBreed)

CarthBreed is a collaborative research project aimed at establishing a modern, site-adapted breeding programme for safflower in Germany. The goal is to develop robust, high-yielding and ecologically suitable varieties using modern methods such as speed breeding, genomics and rapid analysis. In this way, CarthBreed is making an active contribution to the implementation of the 2035 arable farming strategy, particularly in the areas of plant breeding, climate adaptation and crop rotation diversity.

 

 

contact persons:

  • Kim Steige
  • Hans Peter Maurer

 

project partner:

  • exsemine GmbH, Gert Horn
  • Streng-Engelen GmbH & Co. KG, Dr. Carsten Reinbrecht

 

funding:

The project is supported by funds of the Federal Ministry of Food and Agriculture (BMEL) based on a decision of the Parliament of the Federal Republic of Germany via the Federal Office for Agriculture and Food (BLE) under the innovation support programme.

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