Climate-friendly with humus build-up
Our focus on climate protection is on building up humus, a crucial element for the health of our ecosystem.
Building humus for the climate, biodiversity and water. Act regionally. Act globally.
Humus offers solutions to many of the challenges of our time. Healthy soils have an immense capacity to bind CO2, water storage capacity and infiltration are improved, biodiversity on and in the soil is promoted and healthy plants make our food more nutritious again. A positive contribution for society as a whole.
The task we face is not an easy one: industrial agriculture has reduced humus mass by up to 50% over the last 50 years. Intensive farming practices such as monocultures, excessive use of chemicals and erosion have severely damaged many of our soils. This means that we need to rebuild humus through regenerative agriculture.
What is humus and why is it important?
Humus is the entirety of dead organic matter in the soil consisting of substances of plant, animal and microbial origin. It is an invaluable component for fertile soils, as it stores water and nutrients, improves soil structure and promotes biodiversity.But more importantly, humus has the remarkable ability to absorb large amounts of CO2 from the atmosphere and sequester it in the soil, helping to mitigate climate change.
Increasing the humus content in the soil by 4 per thousand per year would be enough to offset the annual increase in atmospheric CO2 levels.
Unfortunately, many of our soils have been severely damaged by industrial agriculture. That is why we have committed ourselves to making a contribution and helping farmers to rebuild their soil and increase the value of humus.
Our partner for this is the German company positerra GmbH. They develop climate projects in harmony with the region and act as an intermediary between farmers and companies. The farmers build up humus on their fields and thus make their farms fit for the future. The companies, in turn, support the farmers and reward them financially for their commitment to the climate and the common good.
The climate farmers commit to humus-enhancing farming for at least 10 years, which is divided into a build-up and a maintenance phase. The farmers are not alone in this; through various educational measures and personal advice from positerra, they learn the principles of regenerative agriculture and are accompanied through all phases. They get to know their soils better and can take appropriate measures depending on the region and soil composition. The climate protection projects are validated with VericoSE in accordance with DIN ISO 14064-2.
Specifically, we support the Sieber Hof run by Monika and Josef Sieber in Sainbach, a traditional farm that has been in family hands since 1906, in the implementation of humus-building measures.The measures that the Sieber Hof is taking with our financial support are holistic and aim to improve the health of the soil so that it can absorb CO2 from the atmosphere again. This includes promoting crop rotation, reducing the use of chemicals and introducing sustainable farming methods such as agroforestry and regenerative agriculture.
As a result, 14 tons of humus can be built up on Sieber Hof's agricultural land each year, allowing us to bind 30 tons of CO2 - that's more than we cause as a company. In this way, we can make a positive contribution to climate protection.
By helping Sieber Hof to build up humus, we are helping to protect our environment and combat climate change. We are committed to a future of agriculture that is fit for grandchildren. We firmly believe that a healthy soil is the foundation for a sustainable future and we are passionate about making this vision a reality. We thank you, our customers, for your support!