Old alpine pasture on the Untersberg renewed
Farming is possible because volunteers from the Alpine Association support the farmers in clearing the alpine pastures that have grown. You’ve just been on the job again for four days.
Großgmain young farmers active again
Of the four farmers who originally worked on the alp – hence the name – all sold their alp grounds and rights in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Only the family of Sebastian Feldbacher from Großgmain retained rights of use. In 1958, however, the grandparents of the now 31-year-old left the Alm. The hut and stable fell into disrepair, the pastures were overgrown with pines. “In 2018 I had a serious accident at work and was in a wheelchair for a while,” says the part-time farmer. “I appreciated being able to go up the mountain again.” He remembered the old mountain pasture and decided to revive it.
AV volunteers cut bushes, shrubs
Support comes from the Salzburg Alpine Club. After 2020 and 2021, 20 helpers will continue to swede the areas this week until Sunday as part of an “alpine partnership” – i.e. cut back bushes and shrubs. With chainsaws, they cut wide aisles in the thicket of pine trees and arrange the cut branches in a large pile. Actually, the accumulated material should be burned, but due to the drought, the risk of a forest fire is currently too high.
Before the first cattle returned to the pasture, the steep and narrow access path had to be made suitable for cattle and part of the pasture fenced off with barbed wire. “Until last year, 1,400 hours were volunteered,” summarizes Feldbacher. His grazing rights cover around 85 hectares, 45 hectares are currently fenced. “But only a good eight hectares are considered real alpine pastures.”
Competitive athlete helps
Many helpers have taken time off work. “I like the idea. The young farmer cannot do it alone. Every hand brings something,” says Wolfgang Weitgasser, pensioner from Salzburg’s Flachgau. Others appreciate working outdoors – like the Austrian rower Tabea Minichmayr, who used a training break on Thursday to help out.
“The animals immediately accept the new areas,” explains Gudrun Wallentin, ecologist and geoinformatician at the University of Salzburg. The university accompanies the Alm project scientifically. “We look at how such a renaturation of an alpine pasture works. Our hypothesis is that biodiversity is growing.” Mountain pines are monocultures, they rot badly, and the soil beneath them becomes acidic. “Typical alpine and medicinal herbs, i.e. the good grass for the cattle, will then no longer grow.” At the same time, questions are asked about where the animals are, when and why – factors such as landscape, weather, vegetation, season, time of day or precipitation.
big landowners happy
The landowner, the Austrian side of the Untersberg belongs to the entrepreneur and state huntsman Maximilian Mayr-Melnhof, sees the revival of the Alm as “very positive”, as he says. “The Untersberg used to have 600 hectares of alpine pastures. Hardly anything is left of it.” Wild animals would also benefit from the open spaces. “Rough-legged chickens like the wood grouse need space for courtship.” And in early autumn, when the cattle are back in the valley, a little fresh grass grows back. “That’s ideal for the red deer, because they have to eat a lot and build up fat reserves to get through the winter.” Mayr-Melnhof also operates an area for natural burials on the Vierkaseralm, where the ashes of the deceased are buried in urns in the ground. The customers do not disturb the revival of the Alm. “Even the deer sometimes eat on the graves.”
No dairy farming, Alm too remote
Incidentally, there are no sheep or goats on the alp because they would be listed as “unclean animals” in the documents, says Feldbacher. Dairy farming is not an issue either. There is neither a milk processing hut nor an access road. The ascent from the valley takes two to three hours, from the controlled forest road it is still an hour. “I couldn’t even boil the milk.”
Meat for self-marketing
That is why, apart from a mother cow with a bull calf, there are only young cattle and oxen on the alp. There is no shepherd. Thanks to the GPS transmitter, however, the farmer always knows where his cattle are. He would like to market the meat of the animals directly in the future. “My cattle walk everything from birth. This not only ensures less animal suffering, but also stress-free meat.”
Feldbacher does not know how long the season lasts on the mountain. Actually, the animals should stay on the pasture until mid-September. But the little rain on the Untersberg means that hardly any vegetation grows back.