Austrian Multipro 2018

AUSTRIAN MULTIPRO 2018

Table of contents Editorial Suvi Kyytsรถnen

3

Things that Austrians are proud of Theresa Binder and Kerstin Landstetter

4

Managing farming in steep areas Stephan Frauenthaler

11

Forestry: Finland vs. Austria Richard Lambitelli

15

Sheep farming in Austria Bernhard Dirnberger

19

Austrian agricultural school system Janine Ritzer

21

Landjugend Austria Agnes Spieler

23

Internship in Canada Georg Gruber

27

Bow hunting in Austria Katharina Prader

29

Sources

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Editorial You are reading the 12th leaflet made by international MultiPro group at Savonia University of Applied Sciences. This year’s exchange students came mainly from Austria where they study Agrarian and Environmental Pedagogy. We also had nursing students from Turkey.

Making this leaflet was part of the Communication Skills and Computing Skills courses. Besides making a leaflet students have written blog texts to Iisalmen Sanomat website in which they compare agriculture in Austria and in Finland. The Austrians also made videos about their stay in Finland. During their exchange programme, students visited e.g. in Lusto and in Lapland and got to know about Finnish forestry and northern landscape.

The Northern climate was also an interest to exchange students. The Austrians were eager to see the northern lights, but unfortunately, they were not visible this time.

Luckily, the winter weather in Iisalmi was otherwise dreamy. We hope students have enjoyed their stay and come back to Finland soon so that they can experience the northern lights later on and we can continue to learn from each other!

Iisalmi 3 April 2018 Editor teacher Suvi KyytsĂśnen Savonia University of Applied Sciences

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Things that Austrians are proud of Theresa Binder

Austria is a beautiful land in the heart of Europe and has around 8.7 million people. Austrians are proud of their country, because all things are so beautiful and special. Although we are small and often seen as "the other Germany", but there are

many

things

we

are

known

for

internationally and we are very proud of.

Musicans of the past

In Austria some heroes of classical music died some time ago, but still touch us for years. First and foremost, I would basically rank the rulers of the Viennese classics - Joseph Hadyn and Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. Nevertheless, I would also like to emphasize musicians, or a genre of music that was particularly successful in the 1980s world, called the Austropop. Our first, German speaking rapper Falco had some international hits, but also the group STS stormed the charts worldwide.

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Bring the Spritzwein (= wine mixed with sparkling water) and beer Austria has a lot of red and white wine, so it is quite appropriate to give us the title "wine country". For several centuries, we have been growing wine in Lower Austria, Burgenland, Vienna and Styria, making the best wine for all wine lovers all over the world.

The beer also tends to taste better in our own country than when we travel, and there has been an interesting development over the past few years: more and more people produce their own beer. Well then, Proooost! Cheers, kippis!

Austrian traditional kitchen A frittaten soup, a Schnitzl with potato salad and finally a fluffy Kaiserschmarrn. Frittaten soup, also called pancake soup is a dish from a beef broth with stripes of pancakes as a deposit. For preparation, pancakes are baked from a lightly liquid dough. These are rolled up after cooling and cut into strips.

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Wiener Schnitzel is a calf meat dipped in smashed flour, smashed eggs, breadcrumbs and then breaded in lard.

Kaiserschmarrn

is

a

preparation

of

pancake dough and is one of the bestknown desserts of Austrian cuisine. The dough made from flour, milk, eggs and some sugar and salt is baked in a pan over medium heat until the bottom is firm.

Then it is cut with a wooden spoon and repeatedly turned gently until it is ready.

It

is

sprinkled

with

sugar

and

traditionally served with plum roaster but today also very often it will be served with applesauce.

Our traditional cuisine has so many good foods to offer, which can be consumed in traditional pubs. The fact is, however, that the roast pork with bread dumplings tastes

nowhere

as

good

as

by

grandmother.

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A high on our winter sports We are not that good at football, but hey ... we have other talents - skiing for example! Such a small country, so many mountains and even more successful ski racers, because there are with Hermann Maier, Marcel Hirscher, Benni Raich and Stephan Eberharter the four men in the top 10 of the most successful male alpine skiers of all time.

Austria can also be very proud of our ladies, like Annemarie Moser Prรถll, Renate Gรถtschl and Marlies Raich, there are three in the top ten. With all these successes, you are already looking forward to the winter sports season.

Land of rivers The Green Lake, Reedsee, Attersee, they all provide us with a spectacular natural backdrop that not only invites you to swim and relax but is also excellent for walks in the area. But these places can also be used wonderfully for a nice picnic with your sweetheart or friends.

7

Land of mountains Kerstin Landstetter

Whether summer or winter, the Austrian landscape has something for everyone. In every part of Austria, you are finding beautiful lakes and mountains. The biggest mountain in Austria is called GroĂ&#x;glockner, which is located in Carinthia.

But there are also other mountains like the GroĂ&#x;venediger, the Wildspitze, Wilder Kaiser and many others. There you are able to do any kind of sports. For example: hiking, skiing, climbing or even enjoy the sun. Many mountains in Austria are around over 3.000 meters high.

Alpine pastures The western part of Austria is well-known for the alpine pastures, which are located at the mountains. They are looking like a cottage, made out of wood. With its rustic flair and connection with nature, in the last few years, they are getting more as a touristic attraction or tourists would like to use it as an accommodation for summer and winter holidays.

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The original idea of an alpine pasture is the seasonal droving of grazing livestock between the valleys in winter and the high mountain pastures in summer as practiced in many places. The farm family lives during the summer months at the alpine pastures and practice their whole daily work there. Grazing cows is an important element of the cultural heritage values of the mountainous landscape. It is the right place to take a break and gather new strength over hearty delicacies.

The owner or the innkeeper of the alpine pasture hut welcome hungry trekkers,

making

them

most

rewarding destinations for delightful walks through the mountains.

For the farmers, it offers a second income source, if you are an owner of an alpine pasture hut with its surrounding pastures.

Other ways to enjoy the summer time at alpine pastures Other ways to enjoy summer time at alpine pastures are: 

doing a practical training



voluntary work.

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My personal experience I did a practical training at an alpine pasture in Carinthia, boarded to Italy. My bosses are not farmers, so at that alpine pasture, on which I enjoyed my summer, there is a cottage of an agrarian community with 3 farmers. My boss was able

to

run

the

pasture hut for four months. There were 40 milking cows, 20 heifers and 30 calves on the pasture.

The main tasks: 

to take care of the whole cattle livestock



milking 40 cows twice a day



producing dairy products (mountain cheese, yoghurt, butter, typical Carinthia whey cheese)



to welcome trekkers and touristic people with snacks.

I can only recommend doing such a kind of practical training like this. You are working in and with the nature the whole day. It is a good opportunity to take a break from workaday life. On the alpine pasture, there is also no mobile connection, so you are isolated. It was the best working and life experience, I have ever had. It is worth to do that!

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Managing farming in steep areas Stephan Frauenthaler

In Austria two thirds of the area are alpine region. So we are faced with challenges in the cultivation of the fields and forest and further it is more difficult to build facilities and of course it is more expensive.

The EU and the Austrian government have programs to support farmers to survive.

You get subsidies if you do some building or equipment investments and for maintaining the cultivation of the fields, pastures and alpine pastures.

The light green area on that picture is mountain area. That is because of the Alps and the foothills of the Alps. And in this light green area there are challenges with steep slopes and also with high sea level.

So further I want to show you how we manage those challenges, what kind of machines we use for that and which animal species we keep there.

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Animal species The mainly part of the cultivation of the pastures and alpine pastures is done by animals. Especially on alpine pastures animals are doing an important job. The animals prevent the forests in the open areas and they also utilize the grass and herbs there.

A big variety of animal species are on the alpine pastures in summer time (from May until September). Cattle, sheep, goats and horses are living in the mountain areas when there is no snow. There are also some little alpine dairies in the mountains which manufacture the milk of the cows, sheep, and goats.

Machinery for alpine areas Machinery for harvesting forage In Austria we use two- axle movers and multipurpose transporters for cultivating steep slope grassland. Those machines have a low centre of gravity, are lightweight and have-all-wheel drive and all-wheel

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steering. With the two axle movers and multipurpose transporters different work tasks are done: harvesting of hay and silage, regeneration of grassland, spreading manure or fostering the pastures and sometimes also forest work. The negative part is the investment, those machines are very expensive. So multi-farm machinery use is one quite common possibility which makes this investment economic. In very steep areas there are cable winches to help and secure the machine when driving up and down.

If it is too steep to drive with a machine where you can sit on, then there are motor mowers (single axle mowers) used. Here you have to walk behind while working. Those lightweight machines have prickles on the tyres so they do not slip to the side. The motor mowers can also be used for different work tasks e.g. cutting the grass, making lines, mulching and snow clearing. Remotely controlled motor mowers are becoming more and more common.

And some areas can only be cultivated by hand working. Because of this high working effort, those areas are often used as pastures.

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Forest machines Special machines are also used in forest. To this issue you can get more information in the article “Forestry: Finland vs. Austria� which has been written by Richard Lambitelli.

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Forestry: Finland vs. Austria Richard Lambitelli

Austrian forestry differs from the Finnish forestry for many reasons, but

neither

because

of

the

woodcutting nor of the timber transport.

The main tree species in Austria are the spruce, the beech and the larch.

In Finland, however the spruce, the birch and the pine dominate.

Another difference is the mountainous terrain in Austria which plays an important role and differs substantially from the flat area of Finland. Due to the mountainous location, especially in the western part of Austria, the work in the forest is very difficult and dangerous.

The care of forests in these mountainous situations is made considerably more difficult. Full mechanization in these areas is impossible. Whereas in Finland due to the rather flat position the use of machines is very easy. Targeted care measures in the forest are thereby made easier.

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Another

difference

mountainous

terrain

is in

the Austria

which plays an important role and differs substantially from the flat area

of

Finland.

Due

to

the

mountainous location, especially in the western part of Austria, the work in the forest is very difficult and dangerous. The care of forests in these mountainous situations is made considerably more difficult. Full mechanization in these areas is impossible. Whereas in Finland due to the rather flat position the use of machines is very easy. Targeted care measures in the forest are thereby made easier.

In Austria, especially in the western part, the use of large forestry machines is not possible. In such areas it is said that the work can only be done by physical force.

Also, the care measures are largely different from the Finnish forestry. In extremely steep terrain the forests are classified as protected forests and can only be cut after approval of the local government. A protective forest is the forest that is classified as such due to the extreme steepness and it has the task, for example, to protect villages in the valley from rock falls, mudflows and avalanches.

16

Forest pests In Austria especially in spruce forests the bark beetle leads to devastating financial losses as well as silvicultural damage.

Responsible for this damage is the socalled “Typographer” who drives his mischief especially after mild winters.

In recent years, his similar smaller relative beetle the six-dentated bark beetle “Kupferstecher” also significantly involved in the stock damage. The starting point of mass propagation are damage events such as wind throw, snow break or dryness.

In order to achieve effective control, the "clean forest management" method should be applied and the following points should be noted: 

identify infested trees as early as possible



as soon as possible the fallen trees have to be cleared out of the forest before the beetles fly out again and cause new infestations



infested trees with the six-dentated bark beetle also make the summit material harmless  chop or burn it.



Woodcutting and timber transport The tree felling in Austria is mainly carried out by professional forestry workers with the chainsaw. In the eastern part of Austria mainly forestry harvesters and forwarders are used.

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The timber transport is largely transported by forest ropeways, which not only allow the logs to be transported on steep terrain, but are also very gentle to the forest.

The

usage

of

heavy

forestry machines is prevented and there is no floor damage. The logs are lifted high in the air and transported by ropeway in the direction of a logging trail.

The usage of tractor and winch as well as rear wagons plays a big role especially for private forest owners. Timber transport with horses is not a thing of the past, but is practiced where machines can no longer be used. The transport of the logs in steep ditches or in rough terrain is only possible by a helicopter. However, this is used rarely in extreme cases because it is very expensive.

Working in the forest is a tough and dangerous job and it could be fatal if you work without training in this matter. KEEP ATTENTION all the time!!!

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Sheep farming in Austria Bernhard Dirnberger

The sheep farming in Austria is, typical for the farming in our country, on a very small structure. About 14.400 farms in Austria keep a total of 357.000 sheep. So that makes an average herd size of about 25 sheep per each farm (December 2016).

Approximately 89 % of the sheep farms are located in mountain areas, so the small ruminants have a big importance for the mountain farmers in Austria. Most of the sheep are kept in Tyrol, Lower Austria and in Styria.

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In the pie chart below you can see the breed distribution of the 375.000 sheep in Austria.

Lamb meat Earlier the sheep in Austria were mostly kept for their wool, nowadays the focus is on the production of high-quality milk and lamb meat. The sheep farming becomes more important in Austria, because of the extensive husbandry of mountain pastures and meadows.

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Austrian agricultural school system Janine Ritzer

In Austria every student has to go to school for at least nine years. After secondary school a student can choose between two schools which teach agriculture.

Higher vocational schools In Austria there are 13 higher vocational schools for agriculture and specialties in addition to agriculture. The specialties are nearly the same like in the middle vocational schools. Students need to study in these schools for five years, after the final exams they receive their school leaving examination.

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Middle vocational schools All middle vocational schools belong to the federal state where they are located.

Graduates from such a school, students have a degree as a craftsman/craftswoman should have skills in 

independent company management of a farm or household



further general education



practical skills



personality development.

Every school has one or more specialisations. There are schools for agriculture, animal husbandry, rural housekeeping, horticulture, orcharding, winegrowing, forestry and horse husbandry.

Advanced training course

The advanced training course is especially designed for students who studied in a middle vocational school and want to study. After finishing the middle vocational school they study in a higher vocational school for three years. Students of an advanced training course have the same final exams and get the same school leaving examination as other students from a higher vocational school.

22

Landjugend Austria Agnes Spieler

The Landjugend Austria is a modern youth organization and the biggest organization in the rural area. They have about 90.000 members in their organization. The LJ is organised in countrywide clubs, all federal states have their own club and nearly every village, too. All the clubs are run by a board. The Landjugend was established in the 1950’s. In this time the club was only for young farmers but nowadays all young people can join the Landjugend. Important for the Landjugend is training, development and personal and professional areas as well as free time activities.

The six priorities of the Landjugend: 

General Education



Agriculture and Environment



Sports and Society



Culture and Customs



Young and International

General Education One of the priorities is about the personal development. There are some seminars and courses with or without certificates organised by the Landjugend, which every member can take part in. Another option where Landjugend members come together are conferences.There are special meetings with different topics like special agricultural terms of political and environmental issues.

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Agriculture and Environment Agriculture and environment is an important thing in the history of the Landjugend.

Most members of the club come from farms and they are also very interested in it.

You can also make a course that you get new information about the agriculture and you can exchange with other farmers and the people who do not come from a farm.

You attend competitions about mowing with a scythe or plow on a field or a forestry competition and so on. Mowing with the scythe is very funny and exhausting. The ploughing is a competition where you must work very exactly if you want to win. One competition that you participate in with a partner is called Agrar and Genussolympiade. Another task the Landjugend deals with, is that also non farmers know about or even understand the difficulties with farming.

Sports and Society The members of the club make a lot of charity projects. Community is important for the Landjugend. The members make a lot of things in their free time together. For example, they go hiking, do sports things, organise playing evenings and so on. We have a lot of sports competitions.

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Culture and Customs Each federal state, each district and each municipality have specific, cultural characteristics.

The individual rural youth groups take care of locally that the old traditions of their region are not forgotten. The rural youth groups are committed to active customs in the following areas: Maypole Set

Folk dancing and singing

Erntedank

Customs Arun the Weddingers

Advent and Christmas customs

Easter traditions

Folks theatre

Party’s

Young and International The Organizations make some excursions around the world. In summer they make a big trip to different countries. You can also make your internship for the Landjugend. You can also make a young exchange for 3 to 24 weeks and you live in guest families there.

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Service and Organisation The Landjugend Austria has as the first youth organization the Internationale ISOcertificate. That is a guarantee for the members that the organisation is transparent and that they get financial support in Austria.

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Internship in Canada Georg Gruber

In this article, I am going to tell you something about the reason why I decided internship,

doing how

an it

agricultural was

and

something about the benefits from this practical training afterwards. It should motivate everyone who wants to make awesome experiences.

Why I decided on an internship in Canada?

Back then, I was 17 years old and I already knew, that one day I have to manage my parent´s farm in Austria and then I will not have time for travelling. Due to this fact, I also knew that this opportunity is one of my chances for doing something somewhere. Therefore, I informed me about different cultures of different countries and my decision was clear very fast, because I always was fascinated from the farms, fields and infinite width of the “hilly” landscape in Canada.

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How was this internship?

The internship in Teeswater, a small village in Ontario, was one of the best things in my life. I really miss the thankfulness and luckiness of the people there, the landscape,

the

work,

the

permanent blue sky, and so on. In these three months I was there, I learned a lot about farming in any case. Most of the farms there were specialized in dairy production and crop farming. Additionally, my boss was the owner of an agricultural bailing business with some employees around my age. I think it makes no sense to write more about it, just watch to my pictures.

How I benefitted from this practical training afterwards?

Last year I applied for a very interesting and hard to get part time job over the summertime. Many people were interested in this job, but the company decided to employ me. I was very happy about that, because I never thought that this company would take me. Due to this reason, I questioned my boss and asked him, why they took me and not someone who is much better qualified for this job? He answered me that these experiences I already have made give me another point of view for a lot of things, and this is the only reason why they decided to hire me.

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Bow hunting in Austria Katharina Prader

Bow hunting is one of the oldest hunting methods of humanity. Former it was a weapon to kill animals and people over long distances. Since the 19th century, bow hunting is a famous sports discipline.

In Austria, it bow hunting getting more and more popular. There are many clubs and parkours for bow hunting in every area. It is possible to do this kind of sports in summer and winter, both on sunny and rainy days. Here you can find all our possibilities in Austria: http://www.3d-bogenparcours.at/index.html

What do you need?

At first, you buy a bow, which is fitting to you in strength and size.

After this, you get some arrows that are fitting to your bow. Then you can buy some extras, for example quiver, bow holder, protectors, etc.

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There are many different bow types. For example recurve, longbow or compound bow. This depends on your preference. It is the same with the arrows. You choose suitable arrows for the bow at first and then you can decide the color, fletching, etc.

Parkour In Austria it is not allowed to hunt in the forest!

There are a lot of special parkours, for example 3D-parkours with fake animals, you can shoot at discs or you shoot at projections of animals. I am very impressed of bow hunting on horseback; unfortunately, it is not possible in Austria yet.

Competitions

We have many competitions in every club for having fun and there are some tournaments in whole Austria, too. If you are good enough, you can take part in international contests. There are many different judging ways for any competition, for example WA, IFAA, FITA, etc.

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Safety Please note: Bow hunting is not a game! You can injure people and animals extremely.

It is very dangerous for you and your companions if you do not follow the safety instructions.

Why I like this sport?

Because I am in the nature. I walk around in the fresh air looking for my targets. My favorite parkour is 3Dparcours, because it keeps me in suspense when I shoot some targets, which are looking like real animals.

Our parkours in Austria are mostly in the forest and you have to go up- and downhill, so it is very good for your endurance. I shoot with a recurve bow and arrows with very high spine, because my bow is powerless and then I need light arrows to compensate the long distances.

So what are you thinking about this? Let’s try!

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Sources Managing farming in steep areas Picture 1: BMLFUW.2015.Bundesministerium für Land- und Forstwirtschaft Umwelt und Wasserwirtschaft.Wien. seen at: 14.02.2018; https://gruenerbericht.at/cm4/ jdownload/send/62-gb2015/1583-s-091-benachteiligte-gebiete-neu Picture 2: Pixabay: seen at: 14.02.2018; https://pixabay.com/en/cows-cow-austriapasture-sky-blue-203460/ Picture 3: Reform- Werke.2014. Reform Werke Bauer & Co Gesellschaft m.b.H. Wels. seen at: 14.02.2018, http://www.reform.at/redx/tools/mb_image.php/ cid.y1f03faed8deb8d39/gid.7/T10X_LW_9155.jpg Picture 4: agrarheute.com.2017. Deutscher Landwirtschaftsverlag GmbH.Hannover. seen at: 14.02.2018; https://www.agrarheute.com/media/styles/ ah_bildergalerie_740x500/public/aebi_tt281_kreisel.jpg?itok=e7tlpXEn Picture 5: Bauernzeitung.at.2017. Agrar Media Verlagsgesellschaft mbH.Wien. seen at: 14.02.2018; http://www.bauernzeitung.at/wp-content/ uploads/2017/01/14731725827163.jpg Differences in forestry between Austria and Finland Picture 1: Tirol unser Land. https://www.tirol.gv.at/umwelt/wald/schutzwald/ (seen on 14.02.2018) Picture 2: Ponsse – A logger’s best friend. http://www.ponsse.com/de/produkte/ harvester/fox (seen on 14.02.2018) Picture 3: Waldarchiv. http://wald.xn--gf-fka.de/bergwald-der-alpen/schutzwald/ (seen on 14.02.2018) Picture 4: Bayrischer Rundfunk. http://www.br.de/themen/wissen/inhalt/umwelt/ wald-tiere-borkenkaefer128.html (seen on 14.02.2018)

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Picture 5: Herzog Forsttechnik AG. http://www.herzog-forsttechnik.ch/Englisch/ Produkte/Seilkrantechnik.html (seen on 14.02.2018) picture 6: Ă–sterreichische Bundesforste. https://www.helvetia.com/at/web/de/home/ ueber-uns/helvetia-blog/engagement/schutzwald-zillertal.html (seen on 16.03.2018) Landjugend Ă–sterreich Picture 1: Alle Bilder sind von dieser Seite:https://landjugend.at/programm

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