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Humus farming — it brings these 3 benefits to agriculture!
Katharina Rösner
Nutrient humus makes up 10-20% of soil organic matter and is essential for active soil life, which ensures healthy soil. The development and maintenance of humus is therefore essential and is ensured by compost and variety in crop rotation. We'll give you an overview of what you need to know about humus farming.
Die Humus farming is an agricultural practice in which Cover crops, crop residues, and compost be incorporated into the soil to improve its condition.
Soil health is important for its resilience. In doing so, the aggregation promoted, which in turn the water storage and promotes infiltration. And this prevents Washout and erosion. It also aerates the soil for better root growth. It is also enriched with microbes, bacteria, fungi and earthworms, which are responsible for Nutrient cycle are important and the plant in disease control support.
Classically, a distinction is made between nutrient humus, the decomposable part, and the permanent humus, which is produced by microbial conversion processes and therefore contains non-decomposable humic substances. The latter makes up the majority of the soil organic matter of 80-90% off and ensures aggregate formation and thus for a healthy soil structure with pores, in which water stored can be. Humus can store 20 times its weight in water. The pores also prevent, for example, plant protection products from leaching into groundwater. The other 10— 20% make up the nutrient humus form containing nutrients for soil life.
Recent research refutes the assumptions of the old theory that humic substances or compounds are resistant to microbial degradation. In fact, humic substances as complex and stable compounds were not found in permanent humus at all. However, what they found there, was proteins, lipids, and polysaccharides that are involved in the process of decomposition of plant remains. What makes permanent humus so stable, is rather old organic soil substances which act as calcium or aluminum cations on the clay layer to form bridges for clay-humus complexes. These protect against degradation.
Another important finding: Cell wall components indicated that the contact between microorganisms, nutrients and clay plays an important role which they make with roots and root exudates. Root exudates appear to contribute more effectively to the formation of permanent humus than dead plant and root remains or agricultural fertilisers. Plant and crop residues that remain in the field as mulch, on the other hand, serve earthworms as food, which in turn is helpful for the formation of clay-humus complexes, such as Read it at the Chamber of Agriculture can.
The Permanent humus So is not resistant to degradation processes, but only protected from it as long as it is enclosed in soil aggregates or attached to the clay-humus-complexes. The cation exchange in clay is particularly high and helps to form clay-humus complexes. Clay soil stores water and nutrients very well and is therefore very good because fertile on the one hand, and on the other hand, it tends to get wet and is difficult to process. Permanent humus is formed in clay-humus layers with clay-humus complexes. The right levels of potassium, calcium and magnesium ensure an airy soil structure.
Regarding the proportion of humus in clay soils with a clay content of >13%, it should be more than 1.5%, which is due to their tendency to become wet. Strictly speaking, soils are only described as clayey when the proportion exceeds 45%. Per se, the main types are clay, sand, silt and clay. If a soil contains portions of silt and clay, it is more of a transitional form such as clay or loamy clay, as you can read at checknatura.
Humus performs important functions in soil and is therefore also relevant for conventional agriculture. For example, the layer binds many nutrients for insects such as worms, which in turn loosen the soil and the soil becomes more accessible to plant roots. There is also the microbial conversion of nutrients taking place for making the phosphate, nitrogen and sulfur available for the plant.
It also protects the soil from erosion by binding magnesium and potassium in humus and thus preventing it from being washed out by rain. This is particularly essential for sandy soils. In addition, the layer also makes it easier to store water. Humus in soil aggregates can be trapped there for decades or even centuries and therefore effectively binds carbon - two to three times as much as is present in the atmosphere. It is therefore relevant for agriculture to preserve this.
Harvest residues, manure and compost added to the soil help build up humus. The humus content falls when more nutrients are broken down by plant production in the long term and too little is reintroduced into the soil through fertiliser. Farms without livestock certainly have problems with a lack of nitrogen, tight crop rotations and humus-consuming cultivation of silo maize, which is becoming increasingly important for biogas production.
Compost consists of food and plant waste, which rots when exposed to oxygen. Therefore, it contains plant nutrients like nitrogen and phosphate, the included potassium is 100% plant-based. Calcium is also important for clay-humus complexes and permanent humus. Compost is also used for liming of the soil, which influences the ph value and thus the plant growth. It activates soil life, which in turn is necessary for microbial degradation. This is because this is the only way plants can absorb nitrogen, sulfur and phosphate in the first place. Compost contains all plant nutrients.
With compost, however, you must ensure that only dissolved nitrogen is available to the plants in the same year of use. Over 90% of nitrogen is organically bound and is used to reproduce humus. Phosphate is also present in compounds that are difficult to obtain, but will be counted towards fertilization requirements in the longer term. The phytosanitary effect of compost is the suppression of pathogens in the soil.
Most companies have specialized in one sector of the economy with tight crop rotations as a result. For biogas plants for example, a lot of silo maizemust be grown that removes a lot of humus from the soil. The straw does not remain in the field, but is often sold to companies with horses. Then it makes sense to use compost.
In agriculture, compost can be used that is quality-assured by RALcoming from households. The fertilizer ordinance provides that the demand must be determined, as only so much may be brought into the field. Blackout periods as for manure dones not apply to compost though because it is not agricultural manure. The use of quality-assured compost ensures that there is no heavy metals included, which, according to organic and the fertilizer ordinance are prohibited. In-house compost must be tested for various heavy metals.
In agricultural practice, humus farming means building up and maintaining the humus content in the soil. For this purpose, compost is used instead of rapidly decomposing farm manure and humus-multiplying and devouring plant crops are taken into account in the crop rotation.
Since companies usually specialize in one sector of the economy, the development and maintenance of humus plays a central role in soil health - also for companies with regional direct marketing. Are you still looking for a suitable ERP system? Then take a look at FrachtPilot Stop by, get to know us in a free webinar or try the software for free for 30 days. We're looking forward to seeing you!
