19.08.2025; Reading time: 3 min; Author: Wolfgang Gerstenhauer

Court profile:

Demeterhof BIO-MAYER

  • Location: Meckenbeuren in the Lake Constance district; On the web: https://bio-mayer.de/

  • Type of farm: vegetable cultivation according to Bioland guidelines since 1983; certified Demeter farm since 2015

  • Employees: Third-generation family business that has also been training apprentices since 1993

  • Farm size: 75 hectares of open land and 2.2 hectares of greenhouses, 2,000 square meters of greenhouse space for young plants (99% home-grown)

  • Crops: approx. 35 different types of vegetables – outdoors and in the greenhouse

  • Irrigation: The outdoor crops are irrigated with rainwater that is collected and stored in the farm’s own cistern via the roofs of the greenhouses

  • Marketing: weekly markets, delivery service (home, nursery, school or office), online store and farm store

Philip Mayer, farm owner since 2017:

“For sustainable soil fertility, we rely on green manure with clover grass, alfalfa, phacelia or field beans and cover around 70 % of the nutrient requirements for our vegetables with compost we produce ourselves.”

Image generated with the help of artificial intelligence.

Challenge: Irrigation in a changing climate

Following the relocation and expansion of the business in 1999, various glass and foil greenhouses were added, which were expanded in 2019. This has further increased the already high workload for irrigation and inspections.

The challenges in terms of irrigation and biological pest control have also become significantly more acute in open field cultivation due to increasing weather extremes and periods of drought.

That’s why Bio-Mayer has been relying on Smart Farming technology from farmunited.

Bottom line:

“Smart farming technology from farmunited saves us a lot of work, reduces our fuel and even our water consumption and also optimizes product quality and harvest success.”

Farm owner Philip Mayer

Smart Farming technology from farmunited in use

  • FARMSENSE with connected soil sensors at root depth determines the exact water requirement of the respective crop in the greenhouses
  • the wireless, battery-operated FARMVALVE irrigation valve for remote-controlled, on-demand irrigation of the crop saves many trips to the farm and therefore valuable working time