ReFarm: A Path to Resilient Farms
Testing Nature-Based Solutions for climate-resilient farming — from field trials to a decision support tool.
Runs from 2025 to 2028
Czech Organics is a partner in ReFarm, a European project building a decision support system for Nature-Based Solutions (NBS) — farming practices that work with nature to improve soil health, water retention, biodiversity and climate resilience. The project connects farmers, researchers, advisors and educators across Europe to turn Nature-Based Solutions into practical, farm-ready knowledge and tools. ReFarm is co-funded by the European Union.
Within the project, EKOFARMA PROBIO in Velké Hostěrádky, South Moravia, is one of ReFarms's three Lighthouse Farms — together with Hof Tolle (Germany) and Humlebækgaard (Denmark).
The Challenge
Climate change is among the greatest challenges facing European agriculture. Farmers increasingly face extreme weather events, soil degradation, biodiversity loss, and changing growing conditions. At the same time, they are expected to produce food sustainably while protecting natural resources. Although many nature-based solutions have already proven their value, farmers often struggle to determine which measures are best suited to their specific conditions,
What ReFarm does at Ekofarma PROBIO
Based on the specific conditions of the farm, ReFarm identifies measures that improve water management, protect vulnerable soils, and strengthen the resilience of the agricultural landscape as a whole. At the PROBIO Organic Farm, we focus on three interconnected approaches:
Agroforestry: An 8.78-hectare system with 866 trees and 65 shrubs planted into arable land, established in 2024, with planned expansion by approximately 30 additional hectares.
Strip cropping: Dividing large fields into alternating crop strips to break up long slopes and slow down water runoff.
Keyline design: Utilizing the terrain and natural water flow to slow down, spread out, and retain water in the landscape as effectively as possible.
Implementation goes hand in hand with monitoring — we track soil condition and erosion, water availability, biodiversity, and economic returns using field observations, satellite imagery, and biodiversity monitoring.
Project goal
ReFarm does not end with the three Lighthouse Farms. The project aims to deliver training materials and courses for farmers and students, as well as an online Decision Support System (DSS) tool to help select suitable measures for a specific farm. The output will not just be a list of recommendations, but a practical system that enables farmers across Europe to choose and implement measures tailored to the conditions of their specific farms.
Partners
Czech Organics • blinc eG• HofTolle • Triebwerk • Regenerative Farming Denmark • participating farms and expert stakeholders
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