At the final conference in Romania in Mures County in Transylvania, the most important tasks for extensive sheep farming and the training of shepherds were discussed using strengths and weaknesses analyzes and best practice examples. The visit to a sheep pasture in the mountains revealed interesting experiences for the project partners. Around 300 sheep are looked after by five shepherds, not to be missed are the herding dogs, which carry out various tasks and also keep us visitors in check. Wolves and bears are not uncommon in this area, but there are few direct observations but fresh tracks. The animals are milked twice a day and the milk is processed into sheep's cheese on site. Tasting sheep meat in stew and sheep cheese together with the shepherds was a unique experience. In the evening the animals are put together in a pen. The responsible task in the great outdoors with fresh air and a view of the mountain landscape requires hard work in all weathers, extensive knowledge and a lot of discipline.
The Erasmus project group therefore came to the conclusion that the following training topics are particularly important and should be integrated into the curriculum:
- Experience in herd management (also with a pilot farm),
- Leading shepherd and livestock guard dogs,
- animal husbandry and animal nutrition,
- pastoralism, and plant science,
- Knowledge of behavior and biology of herd animals,
- Animal health, animal diseases, hoof care,
- Pasture management, pasture infrastructure (water, mineral supply, shelter, etc.),
- Pasture fence for herding safety and herd protection (defense against large predators),
- Application of environmental knowledge and addressing the natural features and (natural) dangers in the area and in the herd,
- Construction and renovation of the necessary infrastructure(s) on the alpine pasture.
On the Austrian side, the HBLFA Raumberg-Gumpenstein and the University of Agricultural and Environmental Education trying to establish the topic of shepherd training and training for trainers (dual or modular), which were developed in the project. In Raumberg-Gumpenstein there is also our own pilot farm in the sheep and goats department.
The different specialist disciplines will work together by a team of experts, with support from, among others, the Styrian Sheep and Goat Breeding Association, the LFI (Rural Training Institute) , the Austrian Center for Bear, Wolf, Luchs and European Hoofcare . the Grabnerhof agricultural college offers the opportunity to complete the shepherd training as an advanced module as part of the skilled worker training. There are also best practice examples of sheep and goat care in the Alpine region in Austria (e.g. Hauser Kaibling in Styria with around 700 sheep on 500 hectares).
The international project group agrees that funding is necessary to improve the status of the shepherd profession and that a link to additional employment opportunities must be created.
Pictures from project:
Further information:
eu4shepherds | eu4shepherds.cesefor.com
TRAINING PLATFORM | eu4shepherds.cesefor.com
Link to the German course catalog: Course Catalog | Training Eu4shepherds
