Our next farm experience took us higher into the mountains to learn about milking and caring for dairy cows. It’s a way of life that hasn’t changed much in centuries; we can still hear the cow bells gently ringing in the distance.
The Farm
This farm has been in the family for generations and not too much as changed. It has been continuously operated as a cow dairy, like almost every farm in their valley. Franzi & Helga and their three kids run the farm full-time. Even little Paul (2) knows how to call and round up the cattle and Lukas (7) is capable of harnessing up the cows in the stable, cleaning the barn, and numerous other independent farm tasks. Franzi’s dad, Franz (opa), is still an active part of the business as well, concentrating on raising honeybees and caring for the fish ponds. Franzi still even uses a scythe to manually cut the edges of the field by hand. No weed wacker here!
They raise 'Flechvieh' cows on over 600 acres of pastures (combined home farm and alm acreage). They are currently milking 13 cows, twice a day. The average yield of milk is currently about 20L per day per cow. In the winter and spring the average is higher, sometimes almost double. The milk is delivered to the local dairy coop every other day. In addition, they also have a flock of about 40 sheep, half-a-dozen chickens, a couple pigs, 2 free-range rabbits, at least 50 beehives, and one very cute pet lamb.
One thing that really stood out about this farm was their commitment to being Organic (or “Bio” in Europe). They care deeply for the land and the animals. The connection between raising a healthy animal, having a healthy landscape, and feeding healthy people is a circle they are fully engaged in sustaining. We talked about how being ‘Organic’ can be just following all the rules to get the certification or committing to a broader view of one's role in caring for the environment around you.
Cows are incredible animals that give meat, milk, and fertilizer (manure) that can actually boost the quality of the pasture they graze on over time. Cattle grazing and some management by their human caretakers has kept these pastures healthy and productive for hundreds of years. For these cows, they get the added bonus of high alpine grazing on a very biodiverse diet, in addition to the typical grass hay and silage of the average grass-fed cow. The cows graze 6-7 months per year, depending on the weather. The rest of the time they eat hay and silage grown at the farm.
The adult cows are milked for ten months each year from late October to late August. At that time, they are ‘dried up’ in preparation for calving in October. This two-month break reduces stress on the cows and the farmers alike. This is the family’s chance to get away from the farm for a little vacation or to sleep past 5am. In October, the calves are born and milking resumes. The calving period is predictable because the farmers artificially inseminate all the cows on the same day every year. Franzi can now do the procedure himself right on the farm after taking a certification course. The calves each receive about half the milk from their mother each day. At three months, the calves are weaned and the young bulls are sold. Usually, 5 or 6 heifers are kept for replacement. These gals usually stick close to the barn while the older ladies are being milked and wait patiently for their once-a-day feeding of grain on the rocks above. It's a pretty good life for them.
The Alm
Alms are seasonal alpine pastures used from May-September for grazing land. They contain a high diversity of plant species, usually on steep land that couldn’t otherwise be mowed for hay production. The quality of the alm pasture results in more nutritious milk and a slightly higher milk price during the summer. It also allows the home farm pastures to be cut for hay while the cows can still graze higher up.
The family alm is called Bauernalm (Farmer’s alm) and is about 3 miles from the family house (and 1000ft. higher at 4500ft). They have a summer cabin on the alm where we stayed along with the family. Life on the alm is a little simpler, no cell phone service and no TV. Compared to some alms, it was quite modern with hydro-electric power and two vacuum milking machines. The cows range free but still appear every morning for the 5am milking!
The alm is beautiful and rustic. They have trout ponds in pools diverted from the mountain stream that flows through the alm. It was fun and easy to spend a few minutes fishing and head back to the cabin with a stringer full of trout for lunch. There's also hiking trails that pass through their property. Austria is covered in a well-signed network of trails that allow hikers to access nature, even on other's private land. Like many other alms, the family sells snacks and drinks to hikers. Franzi and Helga's approach was pretty hands-off, if you were hiking through and thought to ask, they did indeed have snacks and drinks to sell, but if you didn't ask, you'd think all they were offering were the jars of honey advertised on one sign in front of the cabin.
The Day-to-Day
Every morning begins with milking the cows at 5am. The process begins with equipment that was washed and sterilized the night before. A filter is placed over the bulk tank where the milk is collected; this removes any large particles that show up in the milk bucket. In the morning the cows are ready to be milked, it seems like welcome relief to remove the pressure on the udders.
First, they are harnessed to the manger where hay and salt are waiting for them. As the cows begin to eat, the vacuum system is turned on and milking begins. Before attaching the vacuum cups, the cow's udders are wiped clean. Once the cups are on, milk begins flowing from the udders into the milk can. The bottom of each cup is transparent, so you can see when the milk is starting to slow down. At that time, we were shown how to pull on the cups to get the remaining milk out of the udder. After each cow, the milk can is emptied into the bucket, which gets emptied into the bulk tank. The bulk tank is set at 3C (~38) cooling the warm milk until it is delivered to the coop.
It was interesting to get to know the different habits and personalities of each cow from working with them twice a day. Some were quick milkers but gave lots of milk, others like Clara-the lead cow, who gets to wear the bell-are old and need extra care to get all the milk out. Arianna had some discomfort in her udders (possibly mastitis) and would often kick during the milking. However, some gentle brushing during the process helped to calm her down and keep us from getting kicked. Her stall neighbor, Edelweiss, had an accident where another cow stepped on one of her udders, permanently damaging it. She is only able to give milk from 3 of her 4 udders now. Overall these cows were well habituated to people, kind, affectionate, and even pretty obedient to Helga's commands. They loved to lay down and snooze in the barn after their morning milking though.
Once the milking is complete, the clean-up process begins. The first step is to release the cows from their stalls back into the pastures. Then, any manure is scooped and removed, the hay mangers refilled, and supplemental grain added to the hay. In the milk room, all the equipment is again washed and sanitized, to be ready for the afternoon milking.
Usually cows are milked every twelve hours, and this place was no different. Around 5pm we were back in the barn doing it all over again. Except for one time where the cows decided they didn't need milking. We had to hike up high into the hills to find them and then herd them down some very steep slopes and into the barn. The farmers told us this happens more later in the summer because the cows aren't producing as much milk and don't feel the physical pressure that says "go to the barn now". The rest of the year the same twice-a-day milking process takes place at the larger barn down at the main house which was left deserted for the summer months. We had fun cleaning it too...
The Pastures
Styria, where the farm is located is known for frequent thunderstorms, so haymaking is a mad dash to finish the work before the next rainstorm, while also letting the hay dry sufficiently to be stored safely. A very small window means making silage is best, as I mentioned in the previous post. With our added help we were able to rake all the pastures in a single day.
Our first week at this farm was a busy time for haymaking. As the adage says, you have to "make hay while the sun shines" and during the first week of July at 45N latitude, that is about 15.5 hours. Most of the work is done by tractors with mowers and hay rakes attached. However, in the steep places, hand cutting with a scythe and then hand-raking is still used. It was hot, sweaty work, but also important. They are able to produce enough hay and silage for their herd, as well as sell Organic hay to other farms in the area.
The family does not own a baler, but hires another local farmer to come with his larger tractor and baler attachment to make very large, highly compressed round bales. By having all the hay raked at one time they were able to cut down on the number of rental hours they needed to pay for this cutting. They usually cut the pastures 3 times per year. It was a fun sort of race through the fields trying to get the next line raked up before the baler turned the corner to catch up. (So much work, we didn't have time to take any photos!)
Franzi closely watches the development of the grasses, and cuts at early seed stage, when protein content is highest. Sometimes though, he allows each pasture to develop fully and reseed itself. He does this on each pasture once per year, renewing the grass and legume mix for the next year without having to plow or drill. This not only saves time and money, but also keeps the microbiological world below the surface free of disturbance. The results include better nutrient uptake, improved water holding capacity, and denser stands of pasture that crowd out weeds.
Up on the alm, summer hay from one field is cut too. Once dried it was collected by the hay truck and thrown into the hay loft for easy access to feed the cows each day. This was the only field where they didn't need to bale as it was close to the alm barn and used right away.
About ten days after the fields were cut, and an inch or so of rain, it was time to fertilizer the pastures. Franzi, like Heli at our last farm, uses a manure slurry for quick results. His system involves three tractors. One parked over the slurry tank, running its PTO to stir the tank, a second powering the pump pulling the slurry up and out of the tank, and the third one driving around the fields with 1,000 feet of hose behind it spraying slurry as far as it can reach. The next day, I applied a combination fertilizer/bio-activator product to the fields as well. It added nutrients that cow manure doesn't contain, as well as mycorrhizae and beneficial bacteria to enhance the biological activity of the soil.
I asked Franzi why he chose this product, despite its additional cost. As usual, he had put lots of thought into it, and decided that he wanted to add energy back to a system he is mainly taking from. Sunlight puts energy in, he told me, but the cows remove it, the rain removes it, the pasture plants remove it, and this is one way I can put something back into the system in addition to the manure. Also, after he tried it for the first time on one field and compared the speed and quality of the pasture regrowth, the results were convincing enough to keep buying the fertilizer and taking the time to apply it.
The Market
Since the farm sells all its milk in bulk to a local Organic milk coop, there isn't too much to say about marketing. On the good side, they have a guaranteed market for their product, without any marketing expenses. No need to pay someone to sell at a market or create flashy CSA brochures, just a few hours per week of drive time to get the milk from the farm to the buyer. On the downside, of course, is that the price fluctuates, and they must take whatever price the buyer is offering.
Besides selling bulk milk there are also a few other income streams on the farm. One thing we've witnessed at all the farms so far is the importance of some type of market diversification. As was mentioned above, extra hay bales are sold to other dairy farmers in the valley. Additional heifers that are not needed, and all baby bulls are sold as well. Franzi also operates a sawmill on the farm that charges other farmers a fee to turn their trees into usable lumber. Opa is the largest honey producer in their valley, selling into retail shops, direct to customers, and also wholesales honey to some who repackage it and sell it as their own "real Austrian honey".
The Rest
While our weeks at the alm seemed to fly by, we still made time for hiking in the Enns Valley and a few trips to the one store in town to stock up on snacks for Stranger Things Season 3!
To celebrate 4th of July, Helga was kind enough to give us a ride to a nearby alm owned by one of their cousins who was also a dairy farmer. This alm happened to be well-positioned at the bottom of a popular hiking trail and ran a good business of renting out beds in the barn-literally directly above where the cows ate, got milked, pooped, and slept overnight.
(If you look closely in the picture below you can even see the hay pressed up against the window next to our bed.)
The converted hay loft was surprisingly comfy and not smelly. It was equipped with new beds, cozy comforters, electricity, traditional furniture and other Austrian touches that made us almost forget about the 6am milking time ‘wake up call’ naturally imposed upon any overnight guests. Regardless, it was nice not being the ones to have to roll out of bed, put on the rubber boots, and start milking at 5am!
The alm served traditional Austrian fare on boards in addition to selling their own specialty alm products like fresh buttermilk, butter, cheeses, and honey. Here we discovered the one cheese that we are NOT willing to eat (even for the sake of being polite or not wasting food) and that’s fresh Ennstaler Steierkas-although the dried version we had at our alm was more palatable. While the history and tradition is interesting, the taste is less so. Definitely an acquired taste. Here’s more explanation if you are curious: http://www.ennstalwiki.at/wiki/index.php/Ennstaler_Steirerkas
The hike offered amazing scenery- alpine lakes to soak our feet in, the calm sounds of nearby cows strolling through the pasture, and a 360 mountain view from the top. We fell fast asleep that night after paying a visit to a third alm for an evening Radler.
When morning rolled around, we heard the vacuum machine turn on around 6am and immediately put in our ear plugs. It was our day off. We quickly realized that having dairy cows is a big commitment and days off for dairy farmers are few and far between. We admire their commitment to their animals, their land, and their traditional way of life, as it’s a fading lifestyle that demands a lot in the modern age of enticing conveniences and technologies.
Back at our alm, it was a pleasure to take part in such a traditional family life. Every day we ate lunch together, all 9 of us, including Opa and his brother who both still lived in the farmhouse. It was inspiring to see their heritage, still very much alive, passed down by several generations. We went fishing for Friday’s supper, harvested medicinal alpine flowers, cut and stacked wood for winter, helped out in the big farm garden, picked fruit, made yogurt, jams, and cooked other traditional fare.
One day we helped host the entire local elementary school (a grand total of 21 students from Kindergarten through 4th grade) as part of an end of the school year field trip. We passed out a special Styrian version of krapfen (flat bread made with rye flour, fried in lard, then topped with good ol’ Styrian cheese) to all the kids and adults, along with drinks, and alm coffee (concoction mixed with homemade schnapps, star anise, cinnamon, cloves, rum, and an egg liquor popular in Austria).
Luckily, Austrian culture and laws make it possible for families like this one to choose to continue living in a traditional way from the modest income provided by their small (by American standards) dairy farm. Such a reality in many places around the world is becoming less and less possible. There is a demand for alpine dairy milk and cheese and a local dairy coop that purchases the milk.
Even after struggling through a two year battle with cancer when their eldest daughter, Laura, was diagnosed with childhood Leukemia, the family was able to continue farming. Thanks to universal healthcare, they didn’t have to worry about sacrificing their business or being buried in health care costs, as everything was covered - 2.5 hour long medical taxi rides into Salzburg for treatments, all the chemo needed, overnight hospital bedrooms for child and parent, paid assistance in the household when parents were at the hospital. Luckily, Laura is happy and healthy now and the family didn’t have to sell the farm in order to survive the traumatic ordeal.
It was a pleasure getting to know such a special place and family and learn how to milk cows in almost the same way as over 100 years ago (now it’s not done by hand!). We will miss this quiet little valley that successfully continues to preserve its traditional way of life.
Thanks again for reading. Off we go to enjoy the beach for a short break before heading to the UK for our next farm experience.
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