As of: February 29, 2024, 3:00 p.m
By: Klaus Munz
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At the alpine farmers' meeting of the Werdenfels district alpine farmers' association: Bottom row from left: Josef Glatz, Nikolaus Grasegger (former district alpine farmers) and alpine specialist advisor Sebastian Luttenbacher from the agricultural office.
Top row from left: Christian Neuner (new district alpine farmer), Thomas Jocher (deputy) and Hans Stöckl (AVO managing director).
© Munz
These are turbulent times for agriculture: headwinds from environmentalists, laws from the traffic light government with the abolition of the agricultural diesel refund, a ban on tethering, fertilizer requirements, EU wolf management, the general situation with “large predators” and the never-ending situation Bureaucracy.
District - Many of these problems also have a direct impact on rural agriculture in the district and are a constant reality for farmers and alpine farmers.
At the alpine farmers' meeting that recently took place in the “Almhütte” restaurant in the Garmisch district, Josef Glatz, the first chairman of the Upper Bavaria Alpine Association (AVO), who is also a district alpine farmer, was able to welcome numerous guests of honor.
Incidentally, it was his last event as a district alpine farmer; he resigned from his position, just like his deputy Nikolaus Grasegger from Grainau.
“We need rejuvenation,” said Glatz, who suggested Christian Neuner from Mittenwald as his successor.
He was then unanimously elected by the 75 people present, as was his deputy Thomas Jocher from the Partenkirchen district.
The meeting was also rich in topics, followed by the greetings.
On behalf of the market town of Garmisch-Partenkirchen, local councilor and farmer Hannes Biehler thanked the alpine farmers for their constant commitment to the benefit of the cultural landscape.
“Keep it up,” were his words.
Dr.
Ellen Baum from the veterinary office gave a brief talk about the current epidemic situation.
“Tuberculosis and avian influenza are still with us, although the number of cases is manageable,” said Baum.
She also provided information about how to handle sick, injured or even dead animals.
Here she strongly recommended informing the veterinary office before taking any action and waiting for their decision.
“Our approval must also be obtained beforehand when it comes to “stoning” animals.”
Robert Krebs, the new first forest manager of the Bavarian State Forests at the Bad Tölz forestry company, took a brief swipe at the new federal forest law initiated by the traffic light government.
Its draft describes many innovations for the forest owner on 58 pages.
“We actually don’t see any urgent need for this,” said Krebs.
Glatz emphasized the very good current relationship between the forestry authorities and pasture users.
“We maintain a good partnership!” District chairman Klaus Solleder also pointed out the good cooperation between the Bavarian Farmers’ Association (BBV) and the Upper Bavaria Alpine Farm Association (AVO) and also made an important statement: “We see that we can structure our small-scale agriculture He considered it at least a success that the vehicle tax exemption for agricultural and forestry machinery could be obtained.
And Josef Glatz brought another positive aspect.
Looking at Brussels, he definitely sees a certain rethinking among decision-makers there.
“There is movement there,” he described his impressions from a visit to the EU headquarters in Brussels.
“Some of those responsible at least understood our argument, for example, if there was no more grazing, other living creatures would also die out.
This would be counterproductive in terms of nature conservation.”
The topic of wolves was also in focus at the meeting.
However, not as intense as expected, 2023 was a fairly quiet year for alpine farmers, at least in terms of damage balance.
However, Glatz and his delegation from the AVO also made it clear in Brussels "that the wolf is no longer a dying breed and can therefore definitely be challenged in terms of protection status." Another topic was the ban on tethering, a hearing will take place here on March 1st Bundestag.
“We need extensive support for this, including from the municipalities,” raged Glatz.
“In addition, there are now more people who understand the recognition of the combination of husbandry and free-roaming in summer, which we have repeatedly called for. In any case, we are not letting up here.”
Finally, Glatz announced two more dates - on the one hand, the Rural Women's Day starts in Grainau on March 15th, and this year's main alpine tour of the AVO will be organized by the people of Oberammergau on August 7th.