The Higher Federal Teaching and Research Institute Raumberg-Gumpenstein (HBLFA) is the largest agency of the Federal Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry, Climate and Environmental Protection, Regions and Water Management (BMLUK) in agricultural research and is the driving force for sustainable management in the agricultural, food and environmental sectors of rural areas.

Goals and tasks

Forward-looking, innovative, and practically relevant research projects are primarily carried out in cooperation with national and international organizations. Particular emphasis is placed on ensuring that the knowledge gained is disseminated quickly and efficiently to all target groups (science, politics, consulting, teaching, companies, and especially farmers) so that feedback can be incorporated into new research projects.

Position

Due to its central location in the Alpine region – very favorably situated at the intersection of the Limestone and Central Alps – the site, with an average annual precipitation of approximately 1000 mm and a mean annual temperature of 7.2°C, is representative of a large part of the Alpine region. The experimental results obtained can be directly transferred and applied in many areas both domestically and internationally. Furthermore, there are branch offices in other important production regions.

Resources and equipment

The HBLFA Raumberg-Gumpenstein currently manages approximately 200 hectares, including 35 hectares of experimental plots, for research projects. To account for the diverse soil and climate conditions across Austria, the HBLFA permanent branch locations in Wels-Thalheim, Lambach-Stadl-Paura, Admont, Oberalm near Hallein (LFS Winklhof), Piber, and Kobenz near Knittelfeld. In addition, a teaching forest of approximately 170 hectares is managed for practical instruction.

The entire research operation employs nearly 250 people, more than 50 of whom hold key positions as academics and technicians. The institutes for livestock research, crop production and cultural landscape, species-appropriate animal husbandry and health, and organic farming and biodiversity of livestock are divided into a total of 14 scientific departments. Some of the larger departments are further subdivided into sections. The animal population used for conducting livestock experiments averages 250 cattle, 330 sheep and goats, and 250 pigs.