Change forces alpine farmers to adapt
Klaus Vitzthum and his family have documented the weather on the Schwarzeckalm for decades. For example, the 1996 Almauftrieb was on June 12th, with the onset of winter and snow on June 23rd/24th. June, reads the Pinzgau District Chamber of Farmers in his notes.
“You can clearly see that we used to drive much later to the Alm than we do today,” emphasizes Vitzhum. “It used to be mid-June or even later. In the meantime, I’m going up to the mountain pasture around May 20th. That has 100% to do with climate change. The vegetation is simply there much faster and earlier. Of course, you have to get to the pastures much earlier in order to get rid of the available feed on the alpine pastures, especially in spring – in other words: the cows can eat it.”
New water points on the alp, hoses in the valley
The alpine summer is getting longer. If there is a very dry spring like three years ago, the water supply can become scarce. A cow drinks 100 liters a day, the cows on the Schwarzeckalm need 10,000 liters of water a day. The agricultural community therefore had to take precautions: new water points were created together and the existing ones were expanded in order to collect the spring water in the best possible way.
Klaus Vitzthum is also upgrading in the valley: together with the Lutz farmer Hans Haider, he examined a new liquid manure hose system. So that the farmers want to irrigate their meadows in the valley when the drought persists, simulating the rain.
Climate change affects alpine farming
Drought “permeates”
“In the spring, the snow water actually comes off,” says Haider. “There is less soil moisture due to the snow in spring. In principle, this is due to the fact that the water balance in the soil is very low. Now that the summers are very dry and, above all, very hot, this is happening – you notice it particularly with the second and third mowing. If the fodder isn’t on the meadow, then I simply don’t have any winter fodder – and that has a serious impact on the continued existence of the farm.”
And the next investment is pending: Hans Haider is building a large retention basin for rainwater on his farm to irrigate dry meadows with it.
Lower energy density in the hay, less milk
Because the energy density in the hay “decreases significantly the longer the heat periods are,” says the farmer. “It can happen right away that you have a third to a half less energy density. As a result, if you feed the cows the forage in winter, the milk yield decreases.”
In spring it was not too dry this year in the Heutal. But it hasn’t rained enough since mid-June – even up on the Schwarzeckalm. The new water basins should also prove their worth for farmers and cattle this summer.