Description
Intensive dairy farming with all year-round stall-feeding of lactating cows is the most common form of livestock farming in the mountain environment in South Tyrol. Due to unfavourable topography and climatic constraints (short vegetation period) the grassland management as meadows has a long tradition.
The innovative organic farmer strikes unusual, even if not new, paths in both respects by keeping suckler cows and beef cattle on hay meadows and pastures during the summer season. In the winter months, the animals are kept in a loose housing system where they only get hay from the own meadows, without import of off-farm forage.
Breeds suitable for a grazing management (Grauvieh, orignial Braunvieh) are crossed with a beef breed (Limousin) for meat production. The practiced grazing management system is a flexible rotational stocking, partially combined with cut use.
This operation mode leads to a reduction of labour intensity compared to indoor feeding, especially during the summer months when the animals are grazing.
The produced high-quality meat is regionally marketed by a cooperative.
This operation mode could also be profitable for small-structured farms in the mountain environment and is well combinable with a part-time job.
Prerequisites are the acceptance of the shift of the criteria to evaluate the personal success from maximum yield (revenue-oriented) to an economic productivity of the labour (income-oriented), the fulfilling of the necessary requirements for grazing management (size and topographic features, the use of animal breeds
suitable for grazing etc.) as well as the consumers’ demand for a seasonal, high-quality product.
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