Novelties in "energetic agriculture": A strategic niche experiment in dairy farming

Ecotechnology, refers to existing farm practices lacking scientific underpinning as to their efficacy ( e.g. installing water-vitalizers, techniques to assess vitality). Farmers view these as part of a new integral approach to farm management ( ¿energy balancing¿). With a network of farmers practicing ¿energy balancing¿ a learning process was set up according to the ideas of smart experimentation in strategic niche management. Farmers in this network expressed as their main wish ¿scientific proof of their methods¿ and a financial bonus for their way of farming. From the point of view of systems innovation the case is of interest because: a. The ambitions expressed by the farmers involves a series of innovations with increasing structural systemic resistance: - Break away from the present regime by searching for less intensive forms of farming. - Searching for recognition for the methods and approaches of energetic balancing. - Search for scientific evidence for energetic balancing by today still speculative theories on electromagnetic fields b. The network combines in itself several sources of knowledge. Striking is the presupposition that traditional scientific evidence is more needed for success than new alliances in market or with other groups in the alternative domain.