Study Reports
Here you will find summaries of current scientific research studies on biodynamic agriculture. The respective studies are carefully selected, thoroughly discussed and critically analysed. The aim is to reflect the current state of research, to present complex issues in an easy-to-understand way and to provide further information.
The collection is continuously updated, so it is worthwhile to check back regularly.
New study confirms human impact on biodiversity
A recent study published in the renowned journal "Nature" confirms what researchers and non-experts alike have long suspected: humans are affecting…
Imaging techniques bring wine quality to light
Wine is a matter of taste. But can taste and quality be measured? And which would you trust more: a chemical analysis or a human being?
How humus influences our soil climate
Humus is good for soil health. But why is that? What exactly is humus, how is it formed and what functions does humus perform in the soil? In a review…
Where biodynamics is taking root
How has biodynamics developed and spread around the world over the last 100 years? John Paull and Benjamin Hennig's 2020 study is the first to provide…
Food as a remedy for soil and people
Healthy food can only be produced in living soil. Biodynamic agriculture has many positive effects, one of which is humus formation. The soil…
Biodynamic agriculture promotes stable soil ecosystems
This study deals with the complex interactions in soils of different agricultural systems. For this purpose, various fertilizers were applied to…
Of pesticides, sustainable viticulture, and rebels
The use of pesticides in agriculture, especially viticulture, leads to high levels of environmental pollution. How can this be avoided? The…
Retro-innovation: How modern is tradition allowed to be?
Many paths lead to sustainable agriculture. Biodynamics describes one of them, but how does it deal with modern technologies? What are these…
On the self-healing powers of stressed cucumbers
How does the cultivation system affect the health and shelf life of our food? A team of researchers led by Marjolein Doesburg-van Kleffens…
Bacteria from the field to the gut – a comparison of biodynamic and conventional apples
The relationship between gut bacteria and human health is well known. However, how bacterial communities differ in different parts of apples and…
Fungal communities in viticulture: cultivation practices change the balance
Fungal communities play an essential role in plant health, whether as pathogens or beneficial symbionts. They are present in every agricultural soil,…
Demeter in the bottle, but not on the label
Many Swiss farmers voluntarily refrain from marketing their wines under a biodynamic or organic label, even though they meet the relevant…
In-depth look: Effects of the biodynamic preparation BD500 on the quality of grapes
How do the biodynamic spray preparation BD500 and soil microvariability affect vines and grapes? Pierluigi Mazzei wants to answer this research…
Participatory action research: a fruitful partnership between theory and application
How can science and agriculture be connected closer together? Jean Masson explores this question in a study published in 2024. He examines how…
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New study confirms human impact on biodiversity
A recent study published in the renowned journal "Nature" confirms what researchers and non-experts alike have long suspected: humans are affecting…
Biodynamic preparations promote microorganisms in the soil
Jürgen Fritz‘ model explains statistically significant results
Imaging techniques bring wine quality to light
Wine is a matter of taste. But can taste and quality be measured? And which would you trust more: a chemical analysis or a human being?
How humus influences our soil climate
Humus is good for soil health. But why is that? What exactly is humus, how is it formed and what functions does humus perform in the soil? In a review…
Where biodynamics is taking root
How has biodynamics developed and spread around the world over the last 100 years? John Paull and Benjamin Hennig's 2020 study is the first to provide…
Food as a remedy for soil and people
Healthy food can only be produced in living soil. Biodynamic agriculture has many positive effects, one of which is humus formation. The soil…
Biodynamic agriculture promotes stable soil ecosystems
This study deals with the complex interactions in soils of different agricultural systems. For this purpose, various fertilizers were applied to…
Of pesticides, sustainable viticulture, and rebels
The use of pesticides in agriculture, especially viticulture, leads to high levels of environmental pollution. How can this be avoided? The…
Retro-innovation: How modern is tradition allowed to be?
Many paths lead to sustainable agriculture. Biodynamics describes one of them, but how does it deal with modern technologies? What are these…
On the self-healing powers of stressed cucumbers
How does the cultivation system affect the health and shelf life of our food? A team of researchers led by Marjolein Doesburg-van Kleffens…
Bacteria from the field to the gut – a comparison of biodynamic and conventional apples
The relationship between gut bacteria and human health is well known. However, how bacterial communities differ in different parts of apples and…
Fungal communities in viticulture: cultivation practices change the balance
Fungal communities play an essential role in plant health, whether as pathogens or beneficial symbionts. They are present in every agricultural soil,…
Demeter in the bottle, but not on the label
Many Swiss farmers voluntarily refrain from marketing their wines under a biodynamic or organic label, even though they meet the relevant…
DOK trial: Comprehensive publication after 45 years of field experiments
In-depth look: Effects of the biodynamic preparation BD500 on the quality of grapes
How do the biodynamic spray preparation BD500 and soil microvariability affect vines and grapes? Pierluigi Mazzei wants to answer this research…
Participatory action research: a fruitful partnership between theory and application
How can science and agriculture be connected closer together? Jean Masson explores this question in a study published in 2024. He examines how…
Silica in viticulture strengthens the vine and increases wine quality
How does silicon affect the growth of grapevines and the quality of the grapes? An Australian research team led by Cassandra Collins is investigating…
The autonomy of the biodynamic farm organism
Can a modern farm be autonomous? For this conference paper, Marion Lebrun, Martin Quantin and Cyrille Rigolot looked at different biodynamic farm…
Science clearly supports biodynamic agriculture
The results of the long-term DOK trial
Orchards: Sustainable approaches for healthier soils
What impact do different agricultural practices have on soil life in orchards in the long term? A team of researchers led by Aissa Arous investigated…
Agroecology as a model for the future
How widespread are agroecological practices, and what impact do they have? Using the Netherlands as an example, Verkuil et al. explore these…
In-depth: Biodynamic preparations can help to reduce salt stress in lavender
An increased salt content in the soil impairs plant growth. But can agricultural practices mitigate this effect? A team of Iranian researchers…
Fungal networks in vineyards - Biodynamics increases soil fertility
How do different agricultural systems influence grapevines and wine quality? Ana Aguilar-Paredes et al. analysed fungal networks in Chilean vineyards…
Varied and Sustainable instead of Simple and Conflicted
Agricultural systems are as diverse as the landscapes in which they are embedded. In their latest study, Anil Shrestha and David Horwitz provide an…
Copper and carbon: long-term effects in biodynamic viticulture
In a 2020 research study, Hendgen et al. investigate the long-term effects of viticulture on physical and chemical soil parameters. They compared the…
New research on bacterial diversity in biodynamic preparations
In this study, Vaish et al. analyse biodynamic preparations at the genetic level. The aim is to gain a better understanding of their effects on soil…
Opportunism served “to save the soil”
A study on the Biodynamic Movement and Demeter in Nazi Germany describes the proximity of the biodynamic movement to the Nazi regime, even though the…
Intensive processing reduces the quality of grain products
Breakfast cereals are gaining in popularity, often perceived as healthy options, including among organic and Demeter customers. However, roasted…
On the roots of biodynamics in Northern Europe
In this article, John Paull and Tord Tutturen shed light on the early actors of the biodynamic movement in Norway, Sweden, Denmark and Finland. A…
Exploring new avenues: transdisciplinarity in agricultural research
In a discussion article, Cyrille Rigolot, a member of the INRAE (National Research Institute for Agriculture, Food and Environment, France), analyses…
Histamine in wine? New solutions for safe biodynamic wine enjoyment
A recent study by Moreira et al. investigates biogenic amines in wine. In addition to their formation and the microbial processes involved, the study…
In depth: Who is actually fertilising whom?
This article goes into more detail on the study report by Milke et al. on the microbial soil community in both biodynamic and organic agriculture. Ind…
Who is actually fertilising whom?
Combining soil health and crop yield. Is that possible? The team of researchers led by Felix Milke wants to get to the bottom of this and other…
Benefits thanks to unique bacterial communities in the biodynamic preparations
Meta-analysis reveals bacterial populations involved in improving soil health, yields and crop quality.
In-depth: DOK trial shows that biodynamic agriculture releases fewer greenhouse gases
This article goes into more detail on the study report on the review by Skinner et al. of the escape of greenhouse gases from agricultural…
DOK trial shows that biodynamic agriculture releases fewer greenhouse gases
Whether through fertiliser production or field work, agricultural practices release greenhouse gases. Using the DOK experiment, Skinner et al.…
What is the DOK trial?
The DOK trial comes up repeatedly when talking about organic farming. It provides invaluable results, especially for biodynamic agriculture. But what…
Landscaping through species-appropriate livestock farming
In their book “Managing Healthy Livestock Production and Consumption”, editor Nadia El-Hage Scialabba and her co-authors describe what the future of…
The interface between indigenous worldviews and biodynamics
In 2020, a group of indigenous leaders published the online article “Whitewashed Hope”, encouraging the current organic agriculture movement to…
Animal foods - curse or blessing?
The role of animal-source foods is repeatedly hotly debated in the discussion over environmentally sound and sustainable agricultural production…
Farmyard manure improves soil properties in long-term experiment
The biodynamic method is the oldest certified way of practising organic agriculture. Despite a growing number of studies on the effects of biodynamic…
Where biodynamics divides opinions
How do consumers perceive biodynamics? Sara R. Jaeger and her colleagues are investigating this question in an as yet unpublished study. The…
Distinguishing between different agricultural practices using crystallisation patterns
In a study from 2022, a research team led by Jürgen Fritz examined crystallisation images from samples of wheat, grapes and rocket grown according to…
Copper in viticulture – effective fungicide or problematic contaminant?
Copper has been used as a fungicide in viticulture for 150 years and, in the form of copper sulphate, is one of the few pesticides allowed in…
DOK study compares soil quality of different cropping systems after 42 years of agricultural use
How do different farming systems influence soil quality over time? The DOK trial (BioDynamic, BioOrganic, Konventionell (German for conventional))…
Betteshanger Summer School: the missing link between biodynamics and organic farming
For a long time, biodynamic agriculture and organic agriculture were seen as different approaches that arose independently of each other. The report…
Comparative study gives biodynamic and organic wines good marks
Eco-labels are often used in agriculture to inform consumers about the ecological characteristics of a product. They aim to provide credible and…
Biodynamic preparations influence the biochemical soil properties and the quality of potatoes
The aim of the three-year research project by Vaitkevičienė et al. was to evaluate the effect of the biodynamic preparations 500 and 501 on the…
Radical ecological criticism in the context of the biodynamic enterprise
Claire-Isabelle Roquebert works at the University of Lausanne, where she is conducting a historical analysis of the biodynamic movement in…
Biodynamic agriculture favours adaptive fungal communities
Agroecosystems are managed by humans but remain subject to ecological processes. The type and intensity of management measures have an impact on the…
Grasping the whole – how biodynamic farmers think and act
Holism, in other words looking at the whole, is one of the key concepts in biodynamic agriculture. Consequently, every agricultural enterprise is seen…
Differences in stress reaction between biodynamic and conventional vines
In a paper published in 2018, a French research team examined biodynamic and conventional viticulture methods. The researchers, led by Isabelle…
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Findings from a recent comparative study on biodynamic agriculture
An Italian research team from the University of Florence headed by Margherita Santoni analysed 147 publications on biodynamic agriculture, and have…
Resilient agriculture in a changing climate
The Section for Agriculture seeks solutions to the global challenges of climate change, contradicting the claim that anthroposophy denies climate…
The influence of the biodynamic horn silicia (501) preparation on vineyard growth
The new study by Malagoli, M., Sut, S., Kumar, G. et al. on the influence of the horn silica preparation 501 on the plants and berries of grapevines…
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Biodynamic agriculture as a key factor for transformation processes
In this study, Cyrille Rigolot, supported by Martin Quantin of Biodynamics Research, investigated the potential as well as the challenges of…
Biodynamic Research Conference 2021 - Conference proceedings published
The second biodynamic research conference (BDRC 2021) was held from 30 August to 2 September. Over 60 contributions in the form of presentations, work…
First molecular characterization of the properties of preparation 500 (horn manure)
In the present study, a group of researchers investigated for the first time the molecular properties of preparation 500 (horn manure) which is used…
Tunisia builds on biodynamic olive production for sustainable development of the sector
It is impossible to imagine Mediterranean cuisine without olive oil. Like many countries around the Mediterranean, olive production is an important…
Biodynamic farming significantly leads to better soil agregate stability and microbiological activity of soil bacteria
A group of researchers lead by Jürgen Fritz of the University of Bonn studied the effect of the biodynamic preparations horn manure and horn silicate…
Subtle Agroecologies – Farming with the Hidden Half of Nature
New book from Julia Wright and Nicholas Parrott "Subtle Agroecologies – Farming with the Hidden Half of Nature"
An update on image forming methods
Image-creating methods contribute significantly to the determination of food quality attributes, as the following abstract shows. The study is…
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Quality assessment of grape juice using image forming methods
Grape juice produced under biodynamic management ages less quickly – a sought-after quality characteristic. A research group around Jürgen Fritz has…
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Scientific facts instead of witchcraft – what's behind Senator Cattaneo's "crusade"?
An interview with Professor Alessandro Piccolo, one of the leading international experts on agrochemistry
The effect of biodynamic preparations on growth and fruit quality of giant pumpkin (Cucurbita maxima D.)
A recently published study of Edita Juknevičienė et al. (2021) shows a positive effect of the two biodynamic preparations horn manure and horn…
Spatial Differentiation of Physical and Chemical Soil Parameters under Integrated, Organic, and Biodynamic Viticulture
Abstract
Vineyard soils show an increased risk of degradation due to being intensively cultivated. The preservation of soil integrity and fertility…
A special issue on biodynamic research: “Evolving Agriculture and Food – Opening up Biodynamic Research”
In January 2020 the science journal Open Agriculture published a special issue on the 1st International Conference on Biodynamic Research (Dornach,…
Research in biodynamic food and farming – a review
Abstract
Research into biodynamic food and farming has a long history within the biodynamic movement. Whilst the basic aim of this research has…
DOKumented: Organic systems are more efficient and host more life
The long-term DOK trial, the oldest and most important of its kind worldwide, in which the three farming systems biodynamic, organic and conventional…
The impact of long-term organic farming on soil-derived greenhouse gas emissions
Agricultural practices contribute considerably to emissions of greenhouse gases. so far, knowledge on the impact of organic compared to non-organic…