2024-03-09 15:10:05
Around 800 guests celebrated the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) award at the Salzburg Congress
Salzburg (OTS) – The “traditional hay dairy farming in the Austrian Alpine region” is now an agricultural world heritage site. The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations – FAO for short – decided this and presented the corresponding award today, Saturday, at a ceremony in Salzburg. “The designation of hay milk farming as an agricultural world heritage site is not only a recognition for the hay milk farmers, but also a mandate to preserve and further develop this sustainable form of management,” explained the chairman of ARGE Heumilch, Karl Neuhofer, in front of around 800 members and numerous stakeholders . Norbert Totschnig, Austrian Federal Minister for Agriculture, Forestry, Regions and Water Management, added: “Our hay milk is a piece of Austrian tradition that combines sustainability, quality and regionality. I am proud that our hay industry is now recognized as a global specialty. It is a recognition of our agriculture, our ecology, our cultural landscape and our traditional farming methods. I am convinced that with the recognition as a world cultural heritage, the popularity of hay milk will continue to increase across national borders.”
Hay farming has global significance
The FAO recognizes agricultural systems that have been developed by farmers over generations to provide food, preserve ancient traditions and protect natural resources. Certain criteria must be met for world cultural heritage: It must be a unique agricultural production system that is spatially delimited and whose preservation is essential for the future. One of the prerequisites is the historical background of an overall system that is constantly evolving. “An agricultural world heritage site must have global significance as a model for sustainable agriculture, which represents a valuable heritage. The traditional hay farming in the Austrian Alps meets these criteria in an outstanding way. It is considered the first agricultural world heritage site in the German-speaking region,” says Yoshihide Endo from the FAO.
Added value for hay milk farmers
Since the start of ARGE Heumilch Austria’s marketing offensive, the added value, sales and awareness of hay milk have been continuously expanded at home and abroad. 100 percent of the 590 million kilograms of hay milk annually are marketed. “The added value for hay milk farmers is now 30 million euros per year. Our goal is to keep the value at this high level,” said ARGE Heumilch managing director Christiane Mösl today. She wants to use the award to provide even more information about sustainable hay farming. “Many consumers appreciate the quality of hay milk. The award supports us in continuing to educate about the special economic method and its benefits for the environment and biodiversity. In our spring campaign, which starts in March, we will be using the headline ‘Weltklasse. Hay milk is a world cultural heritage.’ We were able to once again attract a lot of attention for hay milk in Austria and Germany,” said Mösl.
Sustainable tradition
Hay milk farming is the most original form of milk production. Hay-dairy cows receive fresh grasses and herbs in summer and hay in winter. Fermented feed such as silage is strictly prohibited. The mosaic-like management promotes biodiversity. The management of permanent grassland preserves meadows, pastures and alpine pastures, which are valuable CO2 stores. The fact that the farming method is still practiced today is mainly thanks to the small structures with family-run farms in the grassland mountain regions and the great cheese tradition. “The hay milk farmers have repeatedly adapted to the changing conditions,” said Karl Neuhofer. “With sustainable thinking and action, they are now ensuring that the hay dairy industry is preserved as a living system for future generations.” Many companies are now using the most modern technologies, “from mechanical hay harvesting to the use of photovoltaics for drying hay,” he said Neuhofer.
About ARGE Heumilch
The ARGE Heumilch brings together around 7,000 hay milk farmers, as well as more than 70 dairies, cheese dairies, dairies and marketers in Austria and the Allgäu. The members of the ARGE work according to strict standards, compliance with which is monitored by independent, state-certified bodies. Currently, around 590 million kilograms of hay milk are collected every year. The main production areas are Vorarlberg, Tyrol, Salzburg, Upper Austria, Styria as well as Bavaria and Baden-Württemberg. The European Union awarded the hay milk the EU quality seal gtS – guaranteed traditional specialty – in 2016.
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