The history of the region around Halle and the city itself are characterized by industry, mining, and agriculture in equal measure, even if the latter is less well known. Halle's nineteenth century economic boom was largely generated by the refinement of agricultural produce from its surrounds. A Chair of Agriculture, established by Julius Kühn at the University of Halle in 1863, made the city a center of agronomy, the science of agriculture. As part of the festival Tank oder Teller (Fuel or Food), excursions will take visitors to places in Halle and the region that testify to this legacy.

The program starts on June 1 with a visit to the Domestic Animal Museum (Museum für Haustierkunde) Halle, which traces the history of breeding farm animals. The second excursion on June 2 visits the Leibniz Institute of Plant Genetics and Crop Plant Research (IPK) in Gatersleben on the north-eastern edge of the Harz Mountains. Genetic modification and the breeding of cultivated plants is at the core of, and at the same time one of the most controversial areas of modern agriculture. On June 8, the program concludes with an excursion to the cultural monument "Ewiger Roggenanbau" (Eternal rye cultivation) in the east of Halle. Since 1878, the monocultural cultivation of winter rye has taken place in an experimental field established by Julius Kühn.