Anna Mayer and Magdalena Haase are the best in their class at the agricultural school.
Their job holds challenges - and yet the two women are satisfied.
Dietramszell/Geretsried - The son becomes a farmer, the daughter marries away - that's nothing more than a role cliché.
Living proof are Anna Mayer (20) from Dietramszell and Magdalena Haase (26) from Geretsried.
The two recently completed the three-semester agricultural school at the Office for Food, Agriculture and Forestry in Holzkirchen.
You are the best of your year – and the master is already in the works.
They were the only women in their class.
But "there are more and more," observes Mayer.
An inveterate, old farmer might say, "A girl has no place there," adds Haase.
In her year, on the other hand, that was not an issue.
"Everyone stood behind us," emphasizes Mayer.
And: "We might as well drive a Bulldog." Machines may also play a role in development.
"Maybe it used to be more hard work."
In agriculture there is a lot of "paperwork".
Today, a farmer's day-to-day life involves a lot of "paperwork", as Mayer calls it.
Sitting at the laptop when the field weather is perfect outside is what the two women like least.
"But balance sheets have to be made and applications submitted," says Haase.
The increase in bureaucracy in agriculture has not deterred the young women farmers.
On the contrary, they deal with it intensively.
Her agricultural apprenticeship at the vocational school was all about the basics.
"How do I grow something?" Mayer gives an example.
For the basic vocational training year, I left my home farm.
At the winter school, the two now learned how to run their own business.
They also calculated target solutions.
"For diversification, I would like to switch to suckler cow husbandry and create an adventure farm," explains Haase.
It is important to her to show school children that the milk does not come from the Tetra Pak.
"The knowledge about agriculture should not be lost," says the 26-year-old.
"It's easy to remember what interests you"
The Geretsriederin runs the family farm at the Nikolauskapelle with her parents.
They have between 25 to 30 dairy cows in the pen there.
This includes their own offspring, some arable and grain cultivation.
Magdalena Haase wants to continue her family's farm.
"In what way is uncertain," she says, however.
The farm and fields would be lost due to the planned S-Bahn extension from Wolfratshausen to Geretsried.
Back to training: Mayer and Haase can't quite say how they managed their average grades of 1.5 and 1.56.
"It's easy to remember what interests you," says the former.
And they would have had good teachers.
They now have their bachelor's degree as a "state-certified farmer for agriculture" in their hands.
The master was already running at the same time.
Both are currently carrying out their work projects for this purpose.
With Anna Mayer, this takes place on a short-grass pasture.
It lies behind her uncle's farm in the Dietramszell district of Ried, which the 20-year-old wants to take over one day.
Not only some of the cows graze on the meadow, there are a total of 34 dairy cows, 16 young cows and ten calves.
Mayer is also working on improving the grassland there by combating the common meadow grass, and a fertilizer trial with phosphorus and lime is underway.
Riding the Bulldog was the greatest thing as a child
Mayer knows all the cows by name.
"The brown head is an angel, the red one is a mouse," says the 20-year-old.
The animals are her favorite thing about work.
See if everything fits in the stable and on the pasture.
"You can't imagine life without critters, if you've known it from a young age," she explains.
Magdalena Haase also grew up with it.
"When Mom is in the stable, she couldn't leave me alone in the house," says the 26-year-old.
And when the father is out with the bulldog and she and her sister were allowed to come along - "that was the highest thing".
Today she still finds it the best job to make hay in the summer when the sun is shining.
There was no question for the women about taking up the job that their parents practice – despite all the challenges.
Agriculture is necessary to "maintain our cultural landscape and preserve biodiversity," says Mayer.
With a view to the war in Ukraine, one becomes aware of how important domestic security of supply is, Haase adds.
The farmer works indoors, outdoors, with the animals and in the forest.
Haase: "It's the nicest and most versatile job I know."
info
To celebrate graduation, the class organizes a winter school playpen party with a DJ in the Wörschhausen district of Eglingen.
The public festival on Saturday, August 20 starts at 8 p.m.
ways into agriculture
The Office for Food, Agriculture and Forestry Holzkirchen offers the following ways into agriculture:
• Master
The agricultural school prepares you for managing an agricultural business and enables you to graduate as an agricultural economist.
In addition, the students can theoretically prepare for the master craftsman's examination to become a farmer.
Admission requirements are a professional qualification in a training occupation in agriculture and one year of professional experience.
The students attend two winter semesters, each from October to March, with classes in production and process engineering (e.g. crop production, animal husbandry, nature conservation, animal health and forestry), business and corporate management (business administration, corporate management, law, tax and social law and market theory). , agricultural policy) as well as vocational training, leadership and rhetoric.
The summer semester has 15 school days and a practical part.
Great value is placed on practical instruction, which is adapted to the individual needs of the company.
For example, the silviculture seminar plays an important role.
Information online at www.aelf-hk.bayern.de and from the headmistress Gisela Hammerschmid, call 0 80 24/4 60 39 12 22, email gisela.hammerschmid@aelf-hk.bayern.de.
• Academy of Agriculture and Alpine Farming
Farmers who have non-agricultural vocational training and at least four years of practical experience in agriculture can acquire the necessary prerequisites and basics for the professional qualification as a farmer through the academy.
The concept is based on the farmer's educational program.
The course lasts one year and takes place in block weeks and practice days.
Contents are plant and animal production, business administration/corporate management, economics and social studies, alpine farming, silviculture, IT, animal transport and emergency killing.
There is also an animal husbandry, agricultural machinery and forestry course as well as a chainsaw course.
Information is also available online and from Michaela Jager, call 0 80 24/ 4 60 39 14 09, email michaela.jager@aelf-hk.bayern.de.
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