How our hay milk farmers help the wild bees
The healthy and nutritious feed for our cows comes from lush meadows as the basis for the good milk from which the best hay milk cheese is made. 85% of all agricultural yields depend on insect pollination. Wild and honey bees and other flower-pollinating insects play an important role in the entire ecosystem because many plants depend on them. However, a million animal and plant species are now threatened with extinction.
The landscape has changed significantly in recent decades. Valuable structures such as unfertilized roadsides, piles of wood left lying around at the edge of forests and meadows, hedges, ridges, rampant old grass or stinging nettles have disappeared in many regions of Austria. However, these are important nesting sites and habitats or retreats for fauna and flora in the agricultural cultural landscape.
Can the best hay milk cheese continue to be made this way?
Yes, because our Woerle hay milk farmers are aware of their responsibility and have always attached particular importance to a high level of closeness to nature and work in a cycle with and for nature. This thinking determines our actions!
Farming families voluntarily agreed in 2017, together with Gerrit Woerle and experts from the University of Salzburg, to start a basic research project in order to preserve the habitat for wild bees and biological diversity in grassland agriculture in the long term.
As part of the project, 91 different bee species were discovered among our farmers in marginal structures with abandoned piles of wood, rarely mowed embankments and forgotten corners. "It's amazing how much biodiversity can develop here with little effort! You often don’t even notice it yourself,” says one of the women farmers happily, and another farmer notes: “The corner has always been difficult to mow. Now a bee meadow can blossom there and I have a lot less work to do. With the results of the project, I finally have something in my hands to climb the steep roadsidesneatly messed up and can talk to critical neighbors and passers-by about the usefulness of wild bees.”
Gerrit Woerle and the experts from the University of Salzburg are impressed by the enthusiasm of the farmers. They are particularly pleased that the farmers are now even able to independently implement further bee-friendly measures on their own farms with the knowledge they have acquired. It is important to coordinate nature conservation measures with management requirements. There must be no disadvantages. "In a joint discussion at eye level, we can design the simplest measures that benefit both sides. We learn a lot from the farmers. At the same time, some people are not even aware of the valuable space they have,” says one of the experts.
The Woerle hay milk farmers are proud to state: The project will continue with commitment in the future. Hay milk is the most original form of milk production and natural farming is important to us. We want to continue to voluntarily help shape our regional nature, create awareness and pass on our knowledge to each other. Because the best feed for our cows and the best cheese can only be achieved together!
