Agriculture

Global Roadshow Highlighting Farmers’ Engagement

What are the challenges for farmers doing the biggest job on Earth in different countries? What are their success stories and expectations? We’re going to travel with you with our #BiggestJobOnEarth roadshow around the world and to share insights into the local campaign activities in the countries!

Comment vi: this is a variant for the infographics with the AEM component "keyfact" used

By the year

2030

Farmers will have to produce more food than has been grown in the whole of human history.

Global warming could cause a

30%

reduction in food production in many regions.

Greece

Video Biggest Job on Earth Campaign Greece

Our next stop for the Biggest Job on Earth roadshow, is Greece!

We all want clothes that are good. Not just good in the sense that they look well and feel nice, but good in the sense that nobody gets hurt or exploited making them, and the environment doesn’t suffer terribly in the process. But, we can’t talk about fashion sustainability if we do not understand where it comes from.

Have you ever thought about how the clothes you love get made? Have you ever thought about knowing who makes them? Every cotton garment starts with a seed and a farmer. But the cotton supply chain is complex, and farmers are often the forgotten partner.

BASF created the #Seed2Sew project, based in Greece, the largest cotton producing and exporting country in Europe. We’ve teamed up with farms and local players along the whole cotton value chain. The project makes it possible to track every move of cotton, from the seed to the final garment in a boutique, bringing farmers, fashion brands and consumers closer together and creating more visibility of the hard work of cotton production.

In order to launch the project, we transformed a cotton field into a “cottonwalk” for the 1^st time in Europe. In this unique field fashion show, that took place in October 2022, 14 models, surrounded by blooming cotton, presented 45 garments inspired by Greek antiquity and their shapes, colors, and patterns. The clothes were made completely from cotton produced in the Certified Sustainable FiberMax^® (CSF) value chain program.

Fashion show in cotton field, Komotini/Greece

United for the Biggest Job on Earth

One year later in September 2023, we hosted roundtable discussions on cotton at the United Nations headquarters in New York, during the 78th UN General Assembly. We brought together a global delegation of farmers from Europe and the United States. We provided an international platform to them to share their sustainability experiences, triumphs, and challenges with the textile industry via media proxy. “United for the Biggest Job on Earth” is part of a partnership with the “Conscious Fashion and Lifestyle Network and another way BASF is successfully contributing to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.

Participants in front of the UN headquarter, NYC

US cotton farmer, Sledge Taylor

Round table discussion in the workshop

Italy

We’re excited to kick off the Biggest Job on Earth roadshow with Italy in the new year.

The future of farming is precision farming being transformed by GPS-based applications throughout the years, enabling field mapping, tractor guidance, and yield mapping.

A recent survey conducted by the Innovation Observatory of the Politecnico di Milano showed that digitalization is revolutionizing the agricultural sector, bringing about sustainable farming practices for future agri-food system.
Here you can see the results.

Digital farming market development - Italy

Systems for sustainable farming practices - Italy

Digital optimization of agriculture resources - Italy

Event in Tuscany

BJOE Events

Our journey begins in Tuscany and makes its way up to Apulia focusing on digital revolution in farming.

By deploying advance on-the-ground sensors from Hort@ and taking advantage of its decision support system (DSS), farmers can monitor crops in real-time, make well-founded decisions based on accurate information and increase efficiency and productivity.

The results of the study conducted by the Digital Innovation Observatory of the Politecnico di Milano highlighted the most promising technological tools, such as decision support systems, data analytics, machine learning and blockchain.

These tools are essential in shaping a more sustainable future of agriculture. We are excited to help farmers do the biggest job on Earth better in Italy.

France

We are landing in France for the Great Harvest Survey: the largest survey on agroecology ever conducted in France!

Great Harvest Survey

2,000 French agricultural stakeholders (including 1,982 farmers) responded to concrete questions about their expectations on topics such as carbon, disease-resistant varieties, sustainability and farm performance.

As part of their Biggest Job on Earth campaign, our colleagues from France, evaluated the work of farmers and their desire to turn to more sustainable practices with this great commitment.

Impressive, isn’t it?

Field Day

For farmers, every day is a field day - but our colleagues from France went above and beyond through the #BiggestJobOnEarth campaign.
This field event broke attendance records in the country with more than 300 farmers joining!
Through various workshops, farmers came together to learn, connect and gain valuable insights.

Congratulations on this impressive achievement!

Farmers connecting

Farmers came together to learn

Workshop for the Biggest Job On Earth

Baltics

Our first destination in 2023 is Baltics!

The #BiggestJobOnEarth must be made fit for the future. What about empowering the next generation to shape it?
As part of the Biggest Job On Earth campaign, our team in Baltics created a perfect learning spot about farming, full of activities, interaction, and exploration.
Let us also introduce you to our secret new ‘colleague’, the Biggest Job on Earth Mascot!

Baltics educational program

Understanding what kids find interesting about the #BiggestJobOnEarth starts with taking their questions into account!

Based on a survey of 7,179 school kids, our colleagues in Baltics developed educational material custom made to respond to kids queries.

That’s the first step of seeing the world through the eyes of the next generation.

So, 3…2…1 Action!

We proudly introduce you a #BiggestJobOnEarth film!
This movie is dedicated to farmers and farming, starting by showcasing the daily life of three Lithuanian farmers.
While all growers around the world play a vital role to feed us, our team in Baltics makes their contribution visible and tangible.
Sit back and watch the movie highlights in the trailer.

While making new friends, kids are getting connected with farming, the #BiggestJobOnEarth

It’s important for the next generation to learn about the world around them, and part of that world is farming. So, what do cows eat? How long can a day of a farmer take?
As part of their campaign, our colleagues in Baltics, organized a study trip in a dairy farm where kids could make their questions and get answers from a real farmer.
During their visit, the kids could see and hear exactly how food ends up on our table.

United Kingdom

The next stop of our #BiggestJobOnEarth Roadshow is the United Kingdom! Through their biggest job on Earth campaign, our colleagues in the UK help people to show their support for farming: Agriculture is fundamental to the world’s well-being and has an impact on the lives of each and every one of us. Still, the value of the biggest job on Earth can often be forgotten. At different events and on their website, they’ve asked farmers and the public, why they think farming is the biggest job on Earth. Take a look at some of the responses here! As a thank you, participants received a 'Farming, the Biggest Job on Earth' T-shirt to continue to show their support.

We asked farmers and the public: Why is farming the biggest job on Earth?

New Podcast launched in the UK

As part of their Biggest Job On Earth campaign, our UK team launched a podcast in October. In each episode, they talk to farmers about what they do and why they do it. In their first episode they talk with farmers about all things bread. In Episode 2, we hear farmers' experiences tackling difficult conversations from mental health to diversity & inclusion within the agriculture industry.

Check out the podcast here (Soundcloud).

Meet some "Biggest Job on Earth" ambassadors from the UK

Acknowledging how our food is produced is essential – but the importance of farmers to society is so often overlooked. Our colleagues in the UK asked farmers and the public why they think farming is the biggest job on Earth. As a thank you, they received a 'Farming, the Biggest Job on Earth' T-shirt to be able to continue to show their support. Over 250 T-shirts have already been given out. Don't the ambassadors look great?

Colombia, Chile, Ecuador & Peru

Our next #BiggestJobOnEarth roadshow stop takes us to Colombia, Chile, Ecuador and Peru! The local campaigns aim to get farmers the attention they deserve: With a video airing on TV Agro, the main streaming television channel for agro business in the region, the faces behind the biggest job on Earth and their importance to the world become visible. The campaign’s message is clear: Farmers move the world!

A picture of a drawn bee with loudspeakers and soundwaves

Sound on!

The future of ag needs innovative solutions to enable the #BiggestJobOnEarth. A surprising addition might be the fluttering of bees. Did you know they produce a sound that stimulates flowers which makes them more colorful and with sweeter nectar*? Our BASF teams in Colombia, Chile, Ecuador and Peru recorded the sound of fluttering bees, reproduced it at a frequency of 0.2 to 0.5 kilohertz and mixed it with the music they like most.

As part of their biggest job on Earth campaign, they offer the Bee Music to farmers to audition to their crops and orchards. The more beautiful the flowers are, the more bees are attracted – because the biggest job on Earth is also to protect the little ones on earth. Curious? Check out Bee Music on Spotify.

*Source: NatGeo

Czech Republic

Our next #BiggestJobOnEarth roadshow stop takes us to the Czech Republic, where everything revolves around how farmers in Czech Republic contribute to society - all year round, whatever the time, whatever the weather is. A great occasion to say thank you: As one of their campaign activities, the BASF Czech team wrote a Thank You letter to the country's farmers in a local BASF magazine.

Thank you! – that’s what our colleagues wanted to say to the Czech farmers. The Thank You letter was published in the November-December issue of Agrotip in 2021 (originally in Czech, here in English translation).

A picture of a farmer standing in a field

The Czech #BiggestJobOnEarth campaign celebrates and values the work of farmers and their contribution to society, that often remain invisible in everyday life.

A picture of the magazine "agrotip" from BASF Czech Republic

The BASF magazine ‘Agrotip’ from our Czech team is published several times a year. Among other things it provides ag news, information around crop protection and reports from events and farmers.

Ag facts for awareness

Farmers and their contribution to society often remain invisible in everyday life, even though everyone encounters ag products daily. How can people get more engaged with agriculture and the role farmers play in putting food on everyone’s table? Take a look at these great infographics from the Czech #BiggestJobOnEarth campaign that explain some interesting ag facts from inside & outside of Czech Republic. Did you know that up to 95% of the ingredients used for food production originate from soil?

China

The next stop of our #BiggestJobOnEarth Roadshow is China! A highlight activity of the local campaign was the impressive outdoor advertising that covered key cities of China’s major agricultural regions: Nanjing, Guangzhou, Jinan, and Hefei. From east to west, from south to north, “Farming, Biggest Job On Earth (种植，何止了不起!)” was shining on the fronts of skyline buildings. The illumination aimed to make people in the cities aware of the commitment and value of farmers & farming to our daily life.

An excellent day in the field

Since 2012, China has held AgCelence Day annually and strives to engage more than 10,000 growers every year. As part of the #BiggestJobOnEarth campaign, around 250 local farmers of Shandong province have been invited to participate in the AgCelence Day field activities that ranged from expert presentations to field study Q&As. In addition to the visitors in Shandong, the event was livestreamed to more than 28,000 growers from different provinces.

Growing with our next generation of growers

A topic close to the heart of our team in China! That’s why they created the program “Grow with BASF”, aiming to pass our passion for the #BiggestJobOnEarth to the next generation. As part of their campaign, our Chinese colleagues are partnering with local customers and volunteers to visit primary schools in rural provinces. Apart from providing stationary and colorful educational materials, they do playful and interactive workshops to teach the children about the needs of farmers, as well as sustainable and modern digital farming practices.

Argentina

#BiggestJobOnEarth roadshow takes us now to South America: Argentina! With the local deployment "Connected through the land", our campaign celebrates farmers and farming and provides visibility to the challenges they face while stating the role of farmers in society.

Argentina is a country with an extensive territory and producers are distributed throughout it. Many farms are located near small towns or villages. The #BiggestJobOnEarth roadshow bus offers a place for exchange of information about products and solutions as well as building up connections.

With the campaign “Connected through land” we would like to highlight the importance and create the awareness of sustainable agriculture and how farmers in Argentina are committed to the global food supply. Together with the Food Bank of Tandil (Buenos Aires) families in need obtained food donated. A great achievement!

Germany

The next stop of our #BiggestJobOnEarth roadshow is Germany! In their campaign our colleagues spotlighted farmers in a new theme each month.

They demonstrated that farmers have passion for what they do - and that it is more than just a profession: Farmers are nutritional experts, soil protectors, logisticians, business economists, crisis managers, and much more. This is only possible with balance in several respects: in the many tasks on the farm as well as in the balance with society and nature. Farmers take on this great challenge with professional know-how to bring higher productivity, environmental protection and social benefit into harmony.

Explore our slide show and learn more about what drives them!

Biodiversität / Biodiversity

Creating valuable habitats

One example for the major challenges farmers face, is how to secure biodiversity in large-scale farming. The agricultural cooperative Trebbin, 20 kilometers south of Berlin, demonstrates how this works!

As part of #TheBiggestJobOnEarth campaign in Germany, Jana and Thomas Gäbert gave insights in the remarkable concept implemented on their approximately 4,000 hectares of farmland. They show that cultural landscape and biodiversity are compatible and that some species are even only present where land is used for agriculture.

Biodiversity is completely integrated in their structures and processes, from individual measures to networked habitats for wildlife and plants. For the two farmers, biodiversity in the cultivated landscape is not a duty, but a task they fulfill with passion and competence.

Proud of the biggest job on Earth

Fulfilling many roles at once I not easy – and famers take up this great challenge with professional know-how. That’s why our German team started a contest as part of their #BiggestJobOnEarth campaign, which calls on farmers across the country to show what makes them proud. Explore some of the winners here.

Digitalization

To make day-to-day farming easier, Christoph Meyer relies on digitalization on the family-run farm. Their food vending machines, where customers can buy fresh products around the clock, use cloud-based telemetry and cashless payment. And on the 150 hectares of arable land, the family also works with digital services such as GPS correction for more precise soil cultivation. Without digitalization, many opportunities would remain closed to the family.

Poland

As one of their campaign highlights, our Polish colleagues conducted the photo competition "365 T- shirts for 365 days of work of farmers" asking farmers to send a picture wearing their campaign T-shirt. Great results, aren't they? Click for more pics!

Together with AgriNet 24, our Polish team conducted a survey with 324 polish farmers in June 2021. The aim of the study was to check how farmers perceive their work, role and social position in relation to other social and professional groups in the country. In addition, the study allowed to learn about the attitudes and opinions of farmers in the field of their profession and in relation to their farm and agricultural perspective. Click through the graphics for exciting insights into the thoughts of the Polish farmers!

Farming in the eyes of kids. Here the awareness starts! Look at these great pictures of the #BiggestJobOnEarth drawn by the little ones of our Polish team colleagues. Food and agriculture is the basis for humankind – only together we can find the right balance for success for future generations!