Fieldwork in spring

In my farm stories, I also often talk about the annual cycle in agriculture or the tasks that come up here. In spring, the work on farms practically “opens up” and there really is a lot to do:

Fences need checking, repairing, and renewing everywhere, and the fields are cleared of litter. You often wouldn’t believe what “items” you find—things that can be life-threatening if they end up in the animals’ feed or are eaten directly by the animals (glass, aluminum, plastic).

The slurry and manure are also spread so that the fields get the necessary fertilisation.

After that, Matthias, my husband, goes over our fields with the special equipment—the “slit seeder”—to loosen the soil and at the same time overseed with seed.

Today I was allowed to ride along for a bit, and I captured it in pictures. An interesting piece of equipment: It’s basically two parts that are attached to the tractor: at the front is the harrow, which lightly loosens the soil, and at the back the slot seeder is mounted, which cuts a slit into the ground, plus the roller that closes the slit again. Overseeding sustainably improves the plant cover and therefore leads to better, more nutritious feed for our animals.

I’ll be happy to keep you posted on more jobs around the farm.

All the best from the Zittrauerhof, yours, Katharina Schwaiger from the Zittrauerhof www.gasteinurlaub.com