New Milchhof in Jossa: The Rainstadler family shows how it works!

Gustav Rainstadler and Sabrina Pixner dared to take the step two years ago with their four children and emigrated from South Tyrol to Hosenfeld-Jossa in East Hesse. The reason for this brave move was the difficult working conditions and the limited perspectives in agriculture of their homeland. Thomas Schneider, known from the district farmers' association Fulda-Hünfeld, recently visited the Annahof in Jossa to support the family and their new initiative as part of the “We show face” campaign.

In South Tyrol, the role of the farmer has increasingly changed; Farmers are considered more than landscape nurse than producers. The Rainstadlers sold their Schnalserhof, which was at a height of 1670 meters, and acquired the Annahof, which is at a height of 424 meters. There the family manages the farm according to Bioland standards and relies on dairy farming. Her stain -cattle herd comprises 73 dairy cows and 50 young animals, which were brought to their new home when moving in an air -conditioned van.

new perspectives in East Hesse

In Osthessen, the family also plans to open a court café to show visitors where their milk comes from. The district farmers' association Fulda-Hünfeld pursues the goal of making regional food producers visible with the “We show face” campaign. Various companies are presented every week via the social media channel "Fulda your farmers", whereby a total of 15 companies are to be recognized by personal interviews in the coming weeks. Rainstadler emphasizes that the areas in East Hesse are larger and that the machine insert can be made easier.

The Rainstadler children visit various schools in the region: Lukas (15) is at the Domgymnasium Fulda, Thomas (13) goes to the Großenlüder Realschule, Lena (8) The primary school Hosenfeld and Paul (6) is in kindergarten. The family feels well received in East Hesse and also receives visits to school classes who want to learn more about sustainable agriculture. Digitization in agriculture is also advanced in East Hesse, for example by using sensors in cattle breeding.

At the same time, developments in South Tyrol that revolve around biological cultivation show some challenges. According to a message from Bioland South Tyrol, the proportion of organic land in the region rose from 3.1 % to 38.5 % due to the addition of pastures and alpine pastures in 2022. Nevertheless, the production figures and sales of biological products stagnate. By the end of 2023, 19.8 % of the agricultural area in Italy have been shown for biological cultivation, but the proportion of organic rescues in the shopping cart in Italy is only 3.8 %. In comparison, it is 7 % in Germany and 11 % in Austria.

Alma Calliari, the chair of Bioland South Tyrol, underlines that increased political support is necessary to promote the changeover to Bioland. While the European Day of Bioland construction took place on September 23, many of the challenges concerned were discussed, including the control costs and the need for better equipment on the shelves of food retail for organic products. In Trentino, new organic farms will receive 90 % of the control costs in the first five years, while the control costs in South Tyrol are around 1 million euros, which is more expensive.