Biochar in agriculture – climate potential and practical evidence from a long-term field trial

Event Date : August 13, 2026

Event Time : 9:00 am - 10:00 am

Event Location : Online

Biochar is promoted as a promising option for storing carbon in agricultural soils while supporting soil fertility and climate-resilient farming systems. At the same time, farmers, advisors and researchers need reliable long-term evidence of its practical effects, benefits and limitations under real farming conditions.

In this Climate Farm Demo webinar, Dr. Markus Steffens (FiBL) will present results from the FiBL project Black goes green – a long-term on-farm trial on the impact of biochar in agriculture. The trial, conducted on the organic farm Juchhof in Zurich, Switzerland, investigates the short-, medium- and long-term effects of biochar on biological, chemical and physical soil quality and yield stability.

Participants will gain insights into the climate relevance of biochar, its potential role in agricultural carbon sequestration, and the practical challenges of applying biochar in farming systems. The event will also discuss what the project results mean for soil fertility, climate mitigation and evidence-based decision-making in agricultural practice.

The webinar is intended for advisors, farmers, researchers and other stakeholders interested in climate-smart soil management. Advisors will receive science-based information for discussing biochar with farmers, farmers will learn about opportunities and limitations of biochar use in practice, and researchers will benefit from an exchange on long-term field evidence, methodological questions and future research needs.