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Robots grow sugar beets after consulting the farmer

Roof of house built with biobased materials

How biobased materials slow down climate change

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KennisOnline brings you stories about research conducted by Wageningen University & Research with co-funding from the Dutch Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries, Food Security and Nature (LVVN).

How is the Dutch black honeybee kept?

The black bee is a native bee species that used to appear everywhere in the Netherlands and is now only found in Texel. The keeping of this bee is important for the biodiversity

Recent news articles (24)

News

Wageningen microbiologist awarded NWO grant for medicines from sea sponges

Microbiologist Detmer Sipkema receives an NWO ENW-M grant to develop methods for producing medicines and bioactive compounds from sea sponges.

Agricultural exports continue to grow, imports grow faster

Dutch trade in agricultural goods continues to expand. According to new estimates, exports will reach €137.5 billion in 2025, an increase of 8.4 percent compared with the previous year.

Avian influenza diagnostics in foxes provide valuable addition to mammal surveillance

WBVR and DWHC show foxes can be infected with HPAI H5N1, making fox testing a valuable addition to avian influenza monitoring in mammals.

KennisOnlineBird flu

HYDRA-EO: GRS leads ESA project on hybrid modelling and AI for multi-stressor crop monitoring

Researchers from the Laboratory of Geo-Information Science and Remote Sensing at WUR have launched HYDRA-EO, a new research project funded by the European Space Agency.

Reinskje Talhout appointed as special professor Product appeal and prevention of harmful consumption behaviour

With effect from 1 January, the Executive Board of Wageningen University & Research (WUR) has appointed Reinskje Talhout as special professor of Product appeal and prevention of harmful consumption behaviour.

Wolf on the move: first ‘GPS wolf’ travels over 2,500 km in just a few months

Since October 2025, Wageningen University & Research (WUR) has been studying interactions between wolves, people and prey animals within De Hoge Veluwe National Park. To facilitate this research, several animals have been fitted with tracking devices, and visitors to the park are being asked to voluntarily carry a GPS tracker.

Wolves

Visiting an arable farm with your class

Where does our food come from? Increasingly, schools want pupils to learn this not only from books, but through hands-on experience. For primary schools planning a visit to an arable farm next spring, new teaching materials are now available.

Karin Schroën appointed chair of Food Process Engineering

Karin Schroën has been appointed Chair of Food Process Engineering at Wageningen University & Research (WUR) with effect from 1 November. She succeeds Remko Boom.

Origins of THC, CBD and CBC in cannabis revealed

Wageningen researchers reconstruct millions-of-years-old ‘ancestral enzymes’ from cannabis Reconstruction of extinct ‘ancestral enzymes’ from cannabis opens new avenues for innovative medicinal plants

MSc student Maite den Butter wins prestigious REmagine Award for research on Marine Protected Areas

Maite den Butter, MSc graduate in Economics of Sustainability, has been awarded the REmagine Award in the category ‘Broad Perspective on Prosperity’. The award recognises Master talents who demonstrate how economics, business and a sustainable social future can reinforce one another.

Land use and agriculture in Europe under pressure: new research for sharper choices

How do we divide Europe’s limited space between food production, nature, energy, housing and infrastructure? New research by Wageningen University & Research (WUR) and partners, commissioned by the European Commission (DG Agriculture), provides a detailed and forward-looking answer.

Planting a Wageningen Forest in the Heart of Kenya

Mirjam Troost, Project Manager at Wageningen University & Research’s WUR Student Challenges, is heading towards Lukenya University.

These are the best stories of 2025

What were the best stories published by Wageningen University & Research in 2025? In this overview, we list them.

Catfish feed mainly on non-native species, not on migratory fish

Research at the Lith weir complex shows that catfish mainly feed on non-native crayfish and gobies and hardly any migratory fish.

Study shows global shift towards an ultra-processed diet

Research in The Lancet shows: more ultra-processed foods reduce nutritional quality and increase the risk of obesity, type 2 diabetes and heart disease.

Project ‘Farm of the Future’ in Lelystad paused in 2026: five questions and answers

Over the past five years, thousands of people from around the world with an interest in agricultural innovation have visited the project Farm of the Future at Wageningen University & Research’s experimental site in Lelystad. Due to a lack of funding, the project will be largely paused in 2026.

Meet the 2025 Youth Food Lab teams – The power of young changemakers

10 teams from 8 different countries had a chance to pitch the projects they had been working on through the YFL lab in the previous months.

King and Queen Meet Student Teams in Suriname

Student innovators from Anton de Kom University present WUR-led Food Systems Innovation Challenge projects during the royal visit.

What farmers earned in 2025

The year 2025 ends positively for the Dutch agricultural sector. The average income of farmers and growers is estimated to be 11,000 euros higher than last year. Yet the differences between businesses and sectors are considerable.

NWO OTP grant awarded to WUR project aimed at head start for day-old chicks

The immune system of a chicken starts in the egg. Validated tools to assess how incubation conditions influence immune development are lacking.

New WUR Chair in Plant Breeding: ‘The tech revolution is boosting crop improvement’

Professor Agnieszka Golicz will join Wageningen University & Research (WUR) on 1 March 2026 as Professor and new Chair of the Plant Breeding group. With her background in cutting-edge plant breeding technologies including bioinformatics, genomics and explainable AI, she closely aligns with WUR’s ambition to strengthen plant breeding with new data-driven approaches and boundary-pushing research.

Fred Beekmans new Institute Manager Strategy at Wageningen Food & Biobased Research

As of 1 January 2026, Fred Beekmans will join Wageningen Food & Biobased Research (WFBR) as Institute Manager Strategy. In his new role at WFBR, Fred will focus on strengthening the institute’s strategic position in the national and international market.

The State of 2025: Number of Dutch farms and greenhouses continues to decline

The Dutch agricultural sector remains robust, with an added value of 77 billion euros. Exports of agricultural goods have also continued to rise, with an increase of 4.8 %. At the same time, the landscape is shifting: the number of small agricultural and horticultural businesses is falling, while the number of large and very large businesses grows.

Mediterranean seabirds carry very high amounts of plastic in their stomachs

A new international study led by Wageningen Marine Research shows that shearwaters in the Mediterranean ingest significantly more plastic than their counterparts in the Atlantic Ocean. The research, recently published in Marine Pollution Bulletin, is based on the analysis of the stomach contents of 529 birds.

Recent background stories (11)

Background stories

No sustainability without justice

We are living beyond the limits of our planet. For years we have been depleting ecosystems, and without addressing social inequality, true sustainability remains little more than an ideal on paper. That is why researchers at Wageningen University & Research want to give new momentum to the concept of a “safe and just operating space.” A healthy planet and a fair society cannot exist separately — they urgently depend on one another.

Wadden seaSustainable water and land use

‘Protection of the Wadden Sea still needs to be made much better’

Huge mussel beds and large numbers of flatfish have surprised the researchers studying underwater life in the Wadden Sea over the past year. The area needed some good news for a change. Numbers of migratory fish have been declining for years, and the impact of climate change and human activities remains significant.

How Wageningen expertise helps tackle urban challenges

From waste collection and repairs of quayside walls to energy poverty: for over a decade, AMS Institute has been helping to resolve problems faced by cities. The collaboration between scientists, the municipality and businesses ensures academic knowledge is rapidly put to practical use.

The ‘poo machine’ reveals the link between gut bacteria and health

Our intestines probably have an influence on Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s, as well as depression and stress. With the help of artificial intestines – aka the poo machine – scientists are trying to figure out how that relationship functions in humans and animals.

Robots grow sugar beets after consulting the farmer

Agricultural robots are already sowing, mowing and ploughing, but each robot has its own app, screen and language. That means farmers waste time on apps and settings that they could have spent tending their crops. Wageningen researchers want to change that. They are working on a smart interface that will let farmers talk to their machines like you would to ChatGPT: discussing the weather, the harvest or the nitrogen rules in their own words.

five deer in forest and heather landscape

Hunting is deeply rooted in our landscape

What we call nature has often been shaped by centuries of hunting. Eugenie van Heijgen, a researcher at Wageningen University & Research, shows in her dissertation how decisive these hunting landscapes are for our perception of nature.

CRISPR-Cas pioneer John van der Oost: ‘Chance has been a determining factor in my scientific career’

When John van der Oost arrived in Wageningen all those years ago, no one had heard of CRISPR-Cas – not even him. His path to discovering this revolutionary technique was determined in part by random chance and in part by seizing the opportunities that arose. Van der Oost will be retiring this year.

Genetic modification

The stomach contents of fulmar reveal a lot about plastic soup in the North Sea

Wageningen Marine Research has been monitoring the amount of plastic encountered in the stomachs of beached fulmars since 1980. Their diet provides an accurate indication of the plastic saturation of the North Sea. Why is this seabird so suited for this study?

General publicBiobased and circular society

The search for circular potting soil for growers and garden lovers

Biochar, a type of charcoal, could be a likely candidate. But is replacing peat with biochar really that easy?

Science aims to outsmart extreme, unpredictable wildfires

Wildfires can sometimes suddenly escalate into an unpredictable and life-threatening inferno. The cause of such behaviour is occurring increasingly often – even in the Netherlands. How can researchers and firefighters gain better control over this phenomenon, known as pyrocumulus?

Climate-proof futures

Removing medicine residues from water

A new Wageningen water purification technology removes medicine residues from sewage. The first full-scale system will be built this year in Zeist.

Wageningen World

Subscribe to Wageningen World

Wageningen World is the magazine for associates and alumni of Wageningen University & Research. The magazine keeps you up to date on developments in the Wageningen domains of nutrition, nature, climate, the circular economy and the environment.

View Wageningen World

Current topics (6)

Current topics

Bird flu

On this page, Wageningen Bioveterinary Research (WVBR) informs you about the latest bird flu (avian influenza) developments in the Netherlands. This research institute performs diagnostics for bird flu and advises the Dutch government on preventive measures.

Bird flu

Wolves

After an absence of approximately 150 years, the wolf has re-established itself in the Netherlands. This dossier provides you with the latest news, background information and results of Wageningen University & Research on wolves in the Netherlands.

Wolves

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Nitrogen

Nitrogen is an essential building block for life, but high nitrogen deposition on natural areas causes biodiversity loss.

Nitrogen

Methane

Dutch livestock farmers have already made considerable strides towards a sustainable livestock sector. A critical task, as one of the climate agreement goals, is to further reduce the emission of methane (CH4).

Methane

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Wildfires

Wageningen University & Research conducts research into the effects of forest fires, heathland fires and roadside fires on nature. For example, the causes of erosion and flooding after a wildfire are being investigated. Researchers in Wageningen also provide advice to authorities, enabling them to focus on the rapid restoration of ground-covering vegetation after a wildfire. This helps the soil remain as intact as possible and recover quickly.

Wildfires