Humusberatung im Ackerbau – Bedeutung, Bewertung und Perspektiven

Humus – also known as soil organic matter – is of crucial importance for many soil functions and the formation of a good soil structure. The increase and preservation of humus can therefore contribute to climate protection and adaptation, which is becoming more important both politically and publicly. Regarding the implementation of humus-building agricultural practices, an existing knowledge deficit among farmers can represent a barrier that can be overcome through appropriate advice. Based on a final Master Thesis, the aim of this study was to evaluate the supply, demand and design of advice on the topic of humus formation. For this, a literature review was first carried out and an overview of existing humus advisory services in Germany was compiled. An online survey of 40 farmers from the HumusKlimaNetz model and demonstration project was carried out to determine the current use of interest in humus advice and important criteria for its design. The evaluation was mainly done descriptive, but also using statistical tests and qualitative content analysis. There was little discussion of humus formation and maintenance in vocational training and in general arable farming advice for the interviewed farmers, which illustrates their need for humus advice. A total of 43 % of the farmers surveyed have already taken advantage of humus advice, primarily in private advice and from clubs or associations. 90 % of those surveyed are interested in receiving humus advice in the future, preferably from associations and organizations, the official state advisory service and the chambers of agriculture. Funding opportunities lie on the one hand in public funding and on the other hand in the high willingness to pay by the farmers (65 % of the farmers surveyed). Methodologically, for the interviewed farmers, the focus should be on media, information events and the exchange of experiences with colleagues. Around 69 to 83 % of the farmers could also imagine taking advantage of an annual individual farm consultation (including soil tests and humus balancing). Based on the knowledge gained in this study, it is recommended to expand the individual farm planning of field-specific humus-building measures but to carry out further studies first and to check, if humus advice can be implemented as part of an integrated environment- and climate advisory approach.