Instead of the traditional handover to the children, Martin and Erika Ertl opt for a modern solution for farm succession
Traditionally, a farm is passed on to a son or daughter within the family. But for Martin and Erika Ertl from Spittal in Carinthia, the handover of the farm is a little different.
Martin and Erika have been running their organic dairy farm full-time since 1978. But instead of traditionally handing the business over to one of their children, a unique solution emerged: son Paul and daughter Karin decided to run their parents' farm together with their fathers. In 2012, Karin and Christian Jester moved to the farm, followed in 2016 by their brother Paul with Ruth. Since then, they have been running the business as a community with their parents and now their six children. They have a clear distribution of responsibilities: While Paul and Ruth take care of the dairy and arable farming, Karin and Christian run a market garden with over 60 different types of vegetables. All income flows into a common pot from which the production costs and living expenses of the extended family are covered. Good communication, regular consultations and mutual support are the key to the success of this extraordinary farm handover.
If you are interested in these topics or would like to learn more about them, we invite you to listen to our podcast.
If you are interested in greening at high altitudes, on alpine pastures, after building paths or ski slopes, listen to this podcast with Priv. Doz. Dr. Andreas Steinwidder and Dr. Bernhard Krautzer in.
Links on the topic of high altitude greening:
- Austrian Working Group for Grassland and Livestock Farming - Guideline: Site-appropriate recultivation and greening in high altitudes
- Austrian-standards.at (ÖNORM) - Requirements for ecologically oriented revegetation after technical interventions in alpine high altitudes
