2 July 2026
Bayer and Forschungszentrum Jülich Present Research on Regenerative Agriculture to Silke Gorißen, Minister of Agriculture of North Rhine-Westphalia.
Soil health and climate protection are among the key challenges facing agriculture - both today and increasingly in the context of climate change. Through the choice of crop varieties and farming practices, agriculture has a direct influence on important parameters such as humus content, soil structure, and soil fertility. Many regenerative approaches are already part of good agricultural practice. However, as the challenges posed by climate change are evolving rapidly, scientific evidence, reliable forecasts, and practically applicable tools are needed. This is where the collaboration between Bayer and Forschungszentrum Jülich in the ReGenFarm project comes in.
To generate results with practical relevance and directly incorporate knowledge from agricultural practice, Damianshof farm in Rommerskirchen has been involved in the project from the outset. Damianshof forms part of Bayer's global ForwardFarming network. Here, farming scenarios jointly developed by researchers from Jülich and Bayer are being tested under real-world conditions. At the same time, a digital representation - a so-called digital twin - of the farm is being created. This makes it possible to model the effects of various arable farming measures. Future scenarios involving changing climatic conditions and different management options can also be tested virtually first. In this way, the digital twin can provide farmers with practical decision-making support.
LifeHub is Bayer's global platform for open innovation - in other words, collaboration with external partners in research and development with the aim of providing new solutions for agriculture. At Bayer's headquarters in Monheim, LifeHub acts as an incubator for start-ups and supports the regional innovation ecosystem in North Rhine-Westphalia by attracting start-ups and helping them to grow. The ReGenFarm project, which is jointly coordinated and funded by Bayer LifeHub in Monheim and Forschungszentrum Jülich as a public-private partnership, focuses on three key areas:
A digital twin of Damianshof
The digital twin forms the virtual heart of the project. It integrates data on soils, climate, farm management, and arable farming. This enables the simulation of management options - from crop rotation planning to fertiliser optimisation. The digital twin is also intended to determine the effects of regenerative arable farming measures on carbon sequestration in soils. It is being designed as a practical tool for farmers, providing scientifically sound support for decisions on alternative farming methods and their impacts.
Plant varieties and cultivation methods to improve soil health and soil structure
ReGenFarm is also investigating the properties of crop plants - particularly their roots - as well as the influence of cover crops on carbon storage in soils and on the stabilisation of soil structures. On the one hand, the findings will feed into plant breeding in order to develop new varieties that achieve high yields while promoting carbon sequestration in soils. On the other, alternative crop management approaches for improving soil health and carbon storage are being developed. In a next step, selected approaches will be tested in a specialised facility that simulates future CO₂ concentrations under field conditions (FACE).
Soil health and the soil microbiome
Soil health is largely determined by the interaction between plants, soil, and microorganisms. In this project, the partners are investigating the role this interaction plays in soil structure and nutrient cycles. New scientific methods are also being used to make the soil microbiome measurable, comparable, and assessable. This is generating new insights into the soil microbiome, which can then be incorporated into management approaches and, ultimately, into the digital twin.
What makes this project exceptional is the close collaboration between science, industry, and agriculture with the aim of gaining new insights and making crop production and soil health more resilient on an evidence-based footing. This interactive project approach is designed to ensure that innovations do not remain confined to the laboratory but reach practice and the field more quickly. However, the project does not stop at scientific and technical concepts: Bayer will also work with the project partners on implementing new business models and products. The aim is to scale up the findings rapidly, transfer them to other contexts, and put them to practical use in agriculture.
For us, ReGenFarm is a genuine partnership in which Bayer and Jülich are working together to make agriculture more sustainable. We are combining Forschungszentrum Jülich's in-depth scientific expertise and unique infrastructure with Bayer's practice-oriented research, access to farms, and practical knowledge. Through this combination, we aim to generate new scientific insights, translate them into practical tools and products, and thereby support farmers in managing healthy soils - the foundation of regenerative agriculture - even under future climate conditions.
The ReGenFarm project exemplifies a science-based, technology-neutral, and practical approach to agriculture. It combines climate adaptation, soil protection, humus management, and modern plant breeding with the aim of safeguarding the competitiveness of farms while contributing to climate and environmental protection. Through close collaboration between the project partners, scientific findings are transferred directly into practice. In later stages, these findings could have a positive impact on structural change in the Rhenish mining area and lay the foundations for new agricultural concepts in North Rhine-Westphalia and beyond.
