Biodynamic (BD) agriculture substantially infl uenced the development of organic agricultural systems in the past - from the core idea of a farm as an organism to the nutrient and energy cycling principles that are innate to modern organic farming today. Presently areas of environmental issues, energy use, chronobiological research, landscape development and quality assurance are in the forefront of BD research eff orts across the world. For some of the areas promising preliminary results point towards a successfull transfer into practical farming in the near future, helping to create sustainable and holistic natural, social and economic systems.