Rainer Pflügler from Kleineisenbach is one of the few sheep farmers.
In the corona year, the part-time farmer with a long family tradition discovered what his strengths are.
Kleineisenbach
- Anyone who comes to Rainer Pflügler's (40) farm in Kleineisenbach (municipality of Fahrenzhausen) doesn't have to look far to discover the special features of this business: Pflügler is not only one of the few sheep farmers, but also has one with Suffolk sheep special breed.
The animals have classic white wool on their bodies, but deep black heads.
What the part-time farmer with decades of family tradition discovered in the corona year: He can score with regionality.
Pflügler's parents started with six Suffolk animals in 1983
On the farm in the vicinity of the Wenger Weiher, pasture animals have been kept for more than 30 years, with ten dairy cows being kept for a long time.
When his father died, Martin Pflügler and his wife Pauline, the parents of Rainer Pflügler, started breeding sheep in 1983.
It started with six Suffolk sheep.
At the time, the couple also went to markets to sell wool as well as meat.
+
No reservations: daughter Veronika likes to visit the sheep.
© Nico Bauer
His successor Rainer Pflügler has around 60 ewes plus lambs in the barn with his wife Carmen and three children.
In the meantime, the couple had tried to breed sheep, which has since been discontinued.
What is also different now than it used to be: The secondary business has been eliminated.
"Today nobody buys the wool anymore", says Rainer Pflügler.
That's why lamb is needed.
With the sale, the family secures the preservation of the local farm.
In contrast to other sheep farms, the Pflüglers do not have the option of offering their sheep for grazing.
Rainer Pflügler, who works full-time at Maschinenring Freising, is very proud of the fact that he can offer his animals very good living conditions: They can stay in the stable or on the pasture as they wish.
In summer, the sheep usually go to the meadow at night when the temperatures are more bearable.
+
There is always something going on in the barn: The Pflüglers have around 60 ewes.
The couple pride themselves on the fact that they can offer their animals very good living conditions, such as open animal husbandry.
© Nico Bauer
But this open animal husbandry also worries the 40-year-old in a certain way: After a wolf tear was discovered in the district a few weeks ago, as reported, he worries about his sheep and lambs.
Here Pflügler calls for support from domestic politics: "You have to finance herd protection accordingly, after the wolf is apparently wanted and eviction is not an option." The second animal Pflügler is concerned about is the beaver, especially since his farm is close to Amper and Amperkanal.
"Only very few farmers in the Freising district have not had any contact with the beaver," says the farmer from Fahrenzhausen, who, in his honorary position as a local council, has dedicated himself primarily to the renovation of the Wenger pond.
+
Trademark: The Suffolk sheep characteristically have a jet black head.
© Nico Bauer
"We have gained a few new customers since March"
For Rainer Pflügler and his direct marketing of the rare lamb - a ewe only gets two lambs per year - the corona pandemic has its positive sides.
"We have gained a few new customers since March," says Pflügler.
"Apparently more people are thinking about the fact that good things can be so close by." He found that customers are again placing more value on regionality and want to know more precisely where the meat on the plate comes from.
"There is hardly a customer who does not want to take a look into the barn," says Rainer Pflügler.
He has nothing to hide anyway.
The farmer is visibly proud that his animals are kept species-appropriate and liveable.
+
Even more animals: the family also keeps chickens for their own use on the farm.
© Nico Bauer
With the lamb with direct marketing in Kleineisenbach it is no different than with other farmers.
Quality has its price, especially since sheep today no longer offer multiple sources of income.
"Agriculture is fighting for recognition and, above all, for fair prices," says Pflügler.
He sees this again and again in his daily work at the machine ring.
"Don't be tempted by cheap prices, but shop with common sense"
For Rainer Pflügler the crux of the matter is the awareness of the customer: “Smaller companies in particular cannot keep up with the dumping prices of large corporations and have to assert themselves in their niches.
In order to survive here, you have to rely on the common sense of the consumer, ”emphasizes the sheep farmer.
“They shouldn't be tempted by cheap prices and offers, but shop with common sense.” The pandemic year 2020, Rainer Pflügler showed that some people have started to rethink.
They are protesting against “run-of-the-mill prices”: Farmers have again pulled up to the Weihenstephan dairy in Freising. What then happens there annoys the farmers very much.
You can always read all the latest news from Fahrenzhausen and the region here.
