The second Swedish SUPER-G co-innovation workshop of the FOLs (West Uppland) took place on the 21st October 2019 at at SLU campus, Ultuna, Sweden. The workshop was attended by 3 farmers.
The farmers were gathered using The VFA (Volunteer & Farmer Alliance Sweden) network to reach out to farmers in the region for a discussion workshop (note VFA is the English translation of FOLs. Fågelskådare och Lantbrukare I Samarbete).
The main objectives of the meeting were to:
- Introduce the SUPER-G project
- Discuss local conditions for permanent grassland (PG) utilization/farming, and ecosystem service (ES) delivery connected to PG
- Discuss potential innovations for PG management and how these might deliver ES
The discussion was structured around the following questions:
- List below what your permanent grassland (PG) should deliver now and in the future?
- Which Ecosystem Service (ES) is the most important for farmers in Svealand (southern mid-Sweden)?
- What are the issues farmers face when trying to deliver the ES?
- Referring to each of the ES, how could you deliver these in the future?
- What management options or innovations would help farmers deliver each of the ES?
- For the management options or innovations that you gave in question 5, which ones are the most important or would be most beneficial to your farm business?
The answers to these questions are presented below:
- Production; biodiversity/pollination; landscape care
- Feed, biodiversity/pollination and landscape/cultural/recreation
- Political decisions relating to the current subsidy system, road expansion and urban development; the difficulty to attract young farmers
- Less complex bureaucracy; consumer demand for PG based products
- Virtual fencing; Satellite; Drones; Over-seeding
- Digital technologies