Parliamentary managing director enthusiastic about innovation from the region
"More than 1200 signatures against Schwabmünchner crows" - headlined the Schwabmünchner local edition of the Augsburger Allgemeine in May. Also mentioned: Dr. Fabian Mehring, the parliamentary manager of the FREIE WÄHLER parliamentary group in the Bavarian state parliament, who, together with the agricultural politicians in his group, has been campaigning for some time for constructive solutions to the rook problem.
On the joint initiative of Dr. Mehring and his parliamentary colleague Johann Häusler, the Bavarian Ministry of the Environment has now established a pilot project in Bavarian Swabia. In the course of this, an adjustment of the historically grown protection status of the animals to their population, which has meanwhile exploded again, is to be examined and research is being carried out into how damage to agriculture, municipalities and local residents can be avoided.
A young company from the district of Augsburg, which Dr. Mehring therefore personally visited the company headquarters in Langerringen. There he was received by founder and managing director Christian Matthesius to report to the FW top politician first-hand about his observations with regard to the plant strengthener "Promos" sold by his company Arvalus. As an organic part-time farmer, Matthesius had been looking for an ecological booster for a long time that would protect the maize, which is important for organic crop rotation, and strengthen its development. The former hobby brewer found what he was looking for in hop extract. This promotes the general health and vitality of the maize plants - and, according to the organic farmers using it, shows a welcome side benefit compared to crows, pheasants, cranes, pigeons and other animals that threaten the harvest of Bavarian farmers.
"Since the 'Mesurol' seed dressing was banned two years ago, countless conventional farmers have been struggling with the effects of the crow plague on their fields, just as organic farms have been for years. "The Korit stain is still a functioning tool for conventional farmers to keep the damage under control, but for organic farms it cannot be used as a chemical-synthetic substance," explained Matthesius to Mehring, who has therefore long been in favor of a Bavarian compensation fund in favor of domestic agriculture. Beize Korit will also lose its approval in two to three years at the latest. "A practicable solution must be found by then," says Matthesius.
For two years now, Matthesius has been observing that his organic corn areas treated with Promos are visited significantly less by the crows than the corn around him. With the help of his partner, the chemist Dr. Stefan Wolf, Matthesius deciphered the secret of this desired side effect: "The concentration of the hop extract promotes the development of the corn and thus makes it less interesting for crows more quickly. This keeps the crows from plundering the fields on a purely natural basis - without any chemicals or unwanted pollution," explains Matthesius.
State politician Dr. Fabian Mehring was enthusiastic about the innovation from his home country and promised political support for the young company. "Being able to reduce the sometimes enormous damage to our local agriculture on an organic basis would be a great step forward for the urgently needed crow management in Swabia. That's why I'm happy to act as a door opener, establish a direct line to the Ministry of the Environment and accompany the ongoing approval process in Brussels," says Mehring, who is convinced of the potential of the invention from Langerringen.
Those: https://www.fabian-mehring.de/nc/mehringsmemos/mehringsmemos-details/news/dr-mehring-besucht-arvalus-start-up-aus-langerringen-koennte-landwirtschaft-vor-kraehen-schuetzen/