Mitarbeitende

Extreme weather events like severe summer droughts and less frequent but more intense rainfalls will become more common in many parts of Europe in the future, posing serious risks to crop production, soil health and the environment. Droughts and heavy precipitation events significantly affect soil functions relevant for agricultural production. To reduce impacts due to heavy precipitation or droughts, preserving soil functions is highly relevant. Integrating sustainable soil management practices can help to increase the resilience of farms and enhance soil health. A main finding from studies analysing what drives farmers to change soil management practices is that there are a few factors relevant in each and every context; among them environmental values and economic considerations. In this thesis, I analyse farmers’ context-specific factors (i.e. factors that are relevant in specific cases) and their opinions of what constitutes a ‘Good Farmer’ that are influencing their choice of soil management practices across the Swiss Plateau. I identified three distinguished viewpoints among Swiss crop farmers; the ‘Sustainable Farmer’, the ‘Pragmatic Farmer’ and the ‘MarketFocused Traditionalist’. When deciding on their soil management, the ‘Sustainable Farmer’ thinks about the long-term effects of their actions and their impacts on the future generations. The ‘Pragmatic Farmer’ decides based on his scientific knowledge and takes legal restrictions, nature, effort and enjoyment of the soil management practice into account. Neat and tidy fields as well as economic considerations characterise the ‘Market-Focused Traditionalist’. Additionally, what constitutes a ‘Good Farmer’ in Switzerland was explored. Being openminded, having the right timing, having traditional values and having an affinity for nature represent the characteristics that were mentioned most frequently by the farmers. The results suggest a policy mix that incorporates farmers context-specific factors. Supporting farmers in the implementation of conservation practices and encouraging them to share their knowledge and viewpoints, could further increase their acceptance.