Tanja Leibing and Elisabeth Pichler work with great enthusiasm on the farm at Loidholdhof, an integrative farm community in the Mühlviertel region of Upper Austria. A total of 65 people with and without disabilities work and live there together. Interns, apprentices and volunteers also work on the farm.
On the farm's sunbed, the two of them answer our questions about the present and future of farming. The chickens cluck happily next door.
What type of agriculture is practiced at Loidholdhof?
Elisabeth Pichler (EP): At Loidholdhof, work with the disabled and a Demeter farm were considered from the outset. It is a farm that is based on farms of the past, where a lot of things are done in-house and the focus is on self-sufficiency.
Tanja Leibing (TL): We operate a circular economy based on biodynamic agriculture. We don't buy in any fertilizers and compost our own manure. We propagate our seeds ourselves wherever possible. We have dairy cows and our own offspring. The soil is "healed" with the manure from our animals. The basic idea of Demeter is: if we have healthy soil, we also have healthy animals and plants and people have a healthy environment.
We produce cereals, including old varieties, potatoes, tomatoes, peppers and much more. We use the milk for the production of dairy products. In the carpentry and weaving workshop, we make furniture and carpets for the farm store and for our own use. The farm store supplies all residents, neighbors and friends with everything they need for their daily lives.
Do you notice anything about the war in Ukraine and its impact on agriculture?
TL: Grain marketing at the farm increased steadily for a long time. It has stagnated since coronavirus. People are saving on food. We are feeling that in direct marketing. But we don't expect any major changes. We will just market more or less.
EP: What's more, if you put good ideas out into the world, you always get support. For example, people came to us themselves and asked if we would like to lease their land. There is one who doesn't ask for anything for the lease. They simply want the land to be farmed well and honestly. That's nice and really special in these difficult times in agriculture. We are doing our best to produce good, high-quality food.
How would you describe the additional social tasks of agriculture, using your farm as an example?
TL: We can supply the region around us with food and also have the opportunity to take people with us. They can work with us, live with us and "find themselves" in difficult times. We have a few children visiting us at the moment. They go into the barn and the fields with us and can simply spend time here. Everyone is welcome. That is a special feature.
What can your farm and your way of farming achieve in times of crisis that conventional farms cannot?
EP: As a conventional farmer, you are dependent on synthetic fertilizers. In times of crisis, when these become more expensive, you are dependent on corporations and other countries. You may despair if you suddenly have to cultivate a crop field without sprays and synthetic fertilizers.
But organic farmers know how to work with nature and the earth so that it provides us with sufficient yields. Because we have (re)learned this. Of course, this also requires us to want to enter into a relationship with it and 'give back' enough. If you own land and forests, a diversely positioned farm also has the advantage that you can provide for yourself relatively independently in times of crisis, with your own wood, your own food and, in the best case, help feed other people.
Do you see connections between agriculture and what is happening "in the world"?
EP: The same questions are asked in agriculture and all over the world: How can I get more out of it so that I earn more and am better than my neighbor? In this way, you end up working and producing masses, but the substance is missing.
The world doesn't end at your own property boundary. If poison is constantly being sprayed on the land next to me, it also affects me and my land.
What do you wish for the future of agriculture and for your farm?
TL: That this type of agriculture is seen and supported. That there is continued trust in it. That it is valued and respected so that we can continue to do well in the future.
EP: It is inexplicable to me why we have to give organic farming a name at all, even though it is 'natural'. It is 'normal' that conventional agriculture is sprayed with poison. So often people say "oh, they've got another organic apple". I can't understand why things are presented like this. I have the impression that many people are losing their relationship with each other and with plants and animals.
In Demeter agriculture and anthroposophy, we believe that "entering into relationship" with the plants, animals and meadows has positive effects on nature. When I look at the cow as a being and I feel my responsibility for this being, I can see when something is missing. Just like a child. If a human being is not 'seen', he perishes. He becomes ill. If nature is not 'seen' because everything is industrialized and 'processed', then it also becomes ill.
I would like us to 'see', observe and smell nature, plants and animals again.
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