Agriculture is the main actor with regard to nature in the open countryside as well as in relation to the aquatic environment and groundwater. Agriculture's sphere of influence stretches over more than 2/3 of Denmark's land area and thereby plays a key role in shaping the landscape of the future. Research and consultancy in the field of agriculture aim to raise levels of nature quality in the open countryside and minimise the impact of the sector on the environment. By means of integrated analyses, the processes, production, structure and regulation within agriculture are linked to the impacts on nature and environment arising from the activity.

The agricultural sector is described in a temporal and spatial perspective through scenario analyses, statistics and interviews. Analyses are carried out in the field of environmental sociology concerning perspectives and practice among actors in the countryside, as well as analyses of political decision-making processes, regulation and valuation. Impacts on the habitats of wild animals and plants in the open countryside, the freshwater aquatic environment, and the marine environment are described by means of the help of analyses and models from within the field of environmental geography. Important factors here are land use and landscape changes, emissions and nutrient loss as well as use of pesticides.