Context

During previous funding periods, agricultural, environmental and climate measures were implemented on individual farms, but these had little effect on promoting species and biodiversity, as the areas involved were too isolated within the overall landscape. Biodiversity continued to decline, and agriculture in particular needed to take on more responsibility. In Brandenburg, few measures were implemented in the last funding period since farmers feared the financial risk of possible sanctions.

This is where both the KOMBI project and the state of Brandenburg came in, implementing a measure from the second CAP Pillar, namely ‘cooperative agri-environmental and climate measures’. The goal was for farmers to join cooperatives and jointly implement agricultural and nature conservation measures. KOMBI, as a nationwide project, is being implemented in four model regions – Saxony, Baden-Württemberg, Hesse and Brandenburg – and will run for six years.

Objectives

In concrete environmental terms, the aims of the project were to strengthen biodiversity, protect the climate through moorland conservation, and create and preserve structural elements in the agricultural landscape. On a second but equally important level, there was a need to protect local farmers and to give them the benefits of working together as a cooperative, as opposed to having to operate individually, affording them both financial and legal support.

Activities

The cooperative was founded in the summer of 2023, with twelve initial farmers. The technical plan and utilisation plan were submitted to the state Ministry of Agriculture, Environment and Climate Protection (MLEUV). Workshops were held with the farmers throughout the second half of the year to plan the implementation of measures for 2024.

An application for European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development (EAFRD) funding for the implementation of the agri-environmental and climate measures was submitted in winter 2024, and in spring 2025 the project applied for funding from the Brandenburg Nature Conservation Fund for lapwing protection, then built fences in cooperation with a local ornithologist group.

After payment for the agricultural application had been submitted, the project held field days on moorland protection, lapwing protection measures and the grazing of permanent crops, with representatives of the MLEUV and KOMBI project management.

Two more farmers joined the cooperative in 2024. Workshops were again held with the farmers in the second half of 2024 to discuss the implementation of measures for the following year to continue their progress, and an agreement was made to apply for further CAP support. In May 2025, project members went on a field trip to Sachsen-Anhalt and Brandenburg to research the implementation of cooperative agricultural nature conservation measures, organised by the German National Rural Network and attended by administrative staff from all over Germany.

Gender equality

In the cooperative management, two out of three positions are occupied by women, including that of overall manager. One of the 14 farmers in the cooperative is also female.

Generational Renewal

One of the 14 farmers in the cooperative is 31 years old.

Main Results

By implementing agri-environmental and climate measures, farmers receive additional premiums and are not penalised, creating economic benefits. Sanction risks can now be borne by the cooperative, and with the farmers being guided and advised on how to implement the measures, no sanctions at all have been incurred within the cooperative. Personnel costs for the cooperative management of the cooperative are also covered within the KOMBI project, which has created 1.5 jobs for three part-time employees. Without this funding, the association would have been forced to pre-finance the cooperative management for 18 months until being notified of the CAP payment for egri-environmental measures.

At the same time, more agri-environmental and climate measures are being implemented in the agricultural landscape and linked together through the cooperative. The implementation of peatland conservation damming also protects the peat body, and allows it once again to act as a CO2 sink, while the use of the extremely frugal ‘Veitshöchheim hemp mix’ promotes plant species that are well adapted to the increasingly dry climate.

Socially, the regular workshops and field days allow farmers to exchange ideas with one another, with the measures to be implemented being decided collectively.

Key lessons

Farmers and nature conservationists usually pursue different goals. In the framework of this project, however, their opposing interests are reconciled, enabling and encouraging these two strong groups to work together in a shared effort for climate and biodiversity protection. Farmers decide together and on an equal footing which agri-environmental and climate measures they want to implement. Biodiversity in agriculture can be achieved through stronger networking of the areas where measures are implemented.

At workshops and field days, measures are considered and coordinated together. Field days allow farmers to learn about the measures, trade insights and implement the measures themselves the following year. Other farmers are invited to promote exchange within the region.

Information on each agri-environmental and climate measure is also provided by means of signage on implementation areas, thus sensitising the population and strengthening the image of the respective farmers.