Between the third and fourth grades, our students complete a 14-week internship, the so-called “big practice.” This enables them to gain practical experience and apply theoretical knowledge. These practical phases are an important part of the training at HBLFA Raumberg-Gumpenstein and offer our students the opportunity to test and further develop their skills in the real world of work.
Below you can see some insights from our students into their “big practice”.
Raphael Wipfl
Laura Rießner and Christina Schneeberger, Norway
“We, Laura and Christina, are on a dairy goat farm in Norddal, Norway for 7 weeks. We learn a lot of new things and get a great insight into goat farming and milk processing. Our daily tasks include gardening, making goat's milk caramel, looking after the large and small goats and milking them on the mountain pasture. A large part of our work is also selling our products to tourist groups from all over the world. An absolute experience was spending the night on the alpine pasture, which is managed in a very secluded area without electricity or running water. The farm has around 200 goats and the owners Jostein and Ashild look after them lovingly.”
Elena Leitgeb and Miriam Wunscher, Germany and Austria
“I, Elena Leitgeb, and Miriam Wunscher spent the first weeks of our internship on an arable farm in Germany. More precisely, near Kiel. Our tasks were very different: from removing grain to spreading compost or lime, everything was included. We then moved back to our home country, where we helped at the EWOT Academy, a sports horse stable, in Salzburg. Our tasks here included cleaning out the boxes, bringing the horses into the paddock, feeding them and riding them. We also attended one or two tournaments and were able to gain a lot of impressions and experiences about show jumping!”
Mateo Bruckner
Marie-Madlen Lukas and Daria Lengdorfer, Switzerland
Marie-Madlen Lukas and I, Daria Lengdorfer, have been in Switzerland since June 16th. We are at the Hochstross farm with the Heimberg-Müller family in the canton of Thurgau. The farm consists of 18 dairy cows and 172 laying hens. Our tasks consist of going into the coop, looking after the chickens and harvesting different vegetables and fruits. We also do field work, for example grouping. On Friday and Saturday, bread is baked in the morning and sold in the farm shop. Marie and I also help with the production of the different products, for example in making the various jams, dried fruits and syrups that are in the range. We feel very comfortable here; The family welcomed us warmly from the start.
Felix Grupp, Germany
This year, Matthias Kaltenbrunner and I, Felix Grupp, are spending the 14-week internship on a farm in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania in the Mecklenburg Lake District area. Our work is varied and consists of transporting the harvested grain, working the soil and sowing. The size of the technology here is overwhelming and we really like it here in the north. The work is fun and the employees are very open-minded and extremely nice.
David Pilz, AustriaI
completed the first part of my practice at the Marharterhof in Ramsau am Dachstein. I was able to gain a lot of insight into the fields of veterinary medicine and agriculture. The highlight were the trips to the Grafenbergalm.
Philip Reiter, Germany
Vanessa Baumgartner, Germany
I spend my large practice in the town of Schermbeck in North Rhine-Westphalia on the Sümpelmann dairy farm. The business has dairy cows, female offspring, a few sheep, breeds stud bulls and fattens cattle and bulls. The family also manages grassland and arable land with sugar beets, grain and corn. My daily work begins with the stable work (making boxes, taking cows that have recently calved from the straw box to the milking robot, feeding calves and generally feeding all the animals) at 6 a.m. After that, I always have to do work on the farm or in the field during the day until I go to the stable at 5 o'clock in the evening when there is no harvest. I often have to transfer machines to the father of the family's agricultural business. I have Sundays off, like all the other employees. I have been able to experience and learn a lot here. I feel very comfortable here because the family immediately welcomed me warmly and I made great friends here.
Peter Kajetan Weiss
Paul Baier and Stefan Fuchs, Germany
Hello people Paul and Stefan here,
The diverse and extensive specialist knowledge that we are taught here at the Gut Groß Voigtshagen arable farm right on the Baltic Sea is still easier than speaking standard German with each other. You also notice that even though we live 1000 km apart, we are on a very similar wavelength thanks to agriculture, which couldn't be more different. The theory in school is deepened and really understood through the practice that is necessary to understand agriculture. Our work is quite varied, some yard work is also part of it; This is also due to the fact that great value is placed on cleanliness and accuracy. We are also given a lot of trust. Today, for example, two 19-year-olds and two 17-year-olds are busy harvesting completely alone. The harvest beer is always fun to have with the many young employees. Looking forward to the mountains again.
Greetings from the Baltic Sea
Magdalena Strobl, Austria
I spend my practice on an arable farm in Velm (Lower Austria). My area of responsibility is very diverse, which means that every working day is different. Here I can contribute my knowledge and learn a lot beyond that. There are many new areas in agriculture that I can get to know, for example the propagation of various crops and the irrigation of crops. The company also offers a yard sale. This gives me an insight into direct marketing.
Kind regards,
Magdalena Strobl
Jessica Kopp
My practice is going very well. I was given responsibility very soon. There is always something going on both in the family's competition horse stable and in the cow stable. Whether feeding, milking or catching sheep, there is always something to do. With the family's 700 hectares of land, it makes sense to put the animals on huge pastures. No matter whether horse, cattle or sheep – they all live their best life here.
Daniel Nauschnegg and Matthias Zeiner, Germany
Matthias Zeiner and I are on a 600 hectare farm in Miltitzwalde, Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania. Our main tasks include collecting grain and cultivating the soil. Of course, yard work and machine maintenance are also included. We were immediately accepted into the team and feel very comfortable. Cultivating and driving are my favorite tasks. In our free time we often visit our school colleagues who also do their practice here.
Kind regards
Daniel Nauschnegg
Chiara Wille and Phoebe Leodolter, Norway
We, Phoebe Leodolter and Chiara Wille, spend our large practice in Snasa (Norway) on a dairy farm including offspring. We spend most of our time in the stable, but we also do work such as cleaning the stable, fencing and gardening. We feel very comfortable here and were immediately welcomed into the family.
Anna Polz, Leonie Anichhofer, Romania
Anna Polz and Leonie Anichhofer are completing their internship abroad at the Sapient Agrar SRL company in Salard, Romania, not far from the Hungarian border. The farm is run by four men and the main crops include maize, barley, wheat, sunflowers and rapeseed. We were able to help out with the harvest, which began in mid-June, and do the work that needed to be done on the farm. We were also left to feed the pigs, dogs and two ponies. The highlights included visiting the nearby town of Oradea and the field tours on the quad bike. We were warmly welcomed by the family and also got to know Romania from a culinary perspective.
Alexander Münzer, Silvan Raffling and Matthias Steinberger, Germany
Silvan Raffling, Steinberger Matthias and I, Alexander Münzer, spend our large practice at Baltic Agrar in Germany. Our work is very varied; They range from chopping grass, removing and storing grain to workshop work such as: B. repair the cultivator. We enjoy the work and we don't get tired of it anytime soon. The landscape is beautiful and there are wind turbines everywhere on the horizon. At first there were only three of us from Raumberg, but that quickly changed. As of today, we are now six Raumbergers – a great fun.
Anika Hofbauer & Amelie Brandstätter, Germany
We are allowed to complete the first 7 weeks of our 14-week internship in Germany at the Wiesenthof in Franconian Switzerland. On the one hand, our company has a Wagyu suckler cow farm with ox fattening (approx. 250 head) (around 250 hectares of cultivated grassland and a small part of arable land) and on the other hand, we manage two biogas plants here. As a third mainstay, the family has planted truffle trees (around 3-5 hectares). Our daily tasks include feeding the horses, the typical work in the cattle stable (mucking out, looking after sick/newly born animals/calves, etc.) and caring for the young trees in the greenhouse as well as all the work that occurs during the day and cooking for the family . We particularly enjoy working with the animals and cooking for the whole family every day. We always have weekends off. If the weather is so nice that we can make silage or hay on the weekend, then we get one day off during the week. In our free time we have been able to experience a lot and meet many new people. We feel very comfortable at the company because we were immediately welcomed and the family connection was there from day one.
Kind regards to Austria!
Anna King, Ireland
Lisa Neubauer, Ireland
I'm currently here in Iceland for the first month, specifically in Hvolsvöllur, on a farm with cows, bulls, sheep, horses and dogs. The area of responsibility covers many areas such as managing the cowshed, feeding the horses, mucking out and riding them. We also work on trail riding tours lasting several days. But tasks such as counting cans, folding sacks, arranging and loading silo bales are also part of our tasks.
Lisa Waidinger, Ireland
I spend my large practice together with Anna König on a dairy farm with 377 cows in Ireland, near Carrick-on-Suir. Our main tasks are milking the cows in the morning and evening, watering and feeding the around 70 calves and spraying weeds with the quad bike. The family is very friendly and welcomed us immediately.
Johanna Fürstauer-Reiter, Switzerland
BUN DI SWITZERLAND. I spend most of my practice at the Morteratsch alpine cheese dairy in Pontresina. In addition to working in service, sales and the kitchen, I sometimes also help out with making cheese in the show dairy. I like to serve the guests and explain to them something about our different types of cheese. In my free time I spend a lot of time in the mountains and enjoy the beautiful landscape of the Engadine.
Johanna Rauchwald
Magdalena Zollner
Verena Angleitner, Ireland
I spend most of my practice in Ireland, near Cork. In addition to the 55 dairy cows, the farm also has 2 bulls, offspring, 5 dogs and 5 cats. In addition to milking, this also includes cleaning the animals' winter stables, as they are on the pastures in summer. I feel very comfortable on the farm because I was immediately welcomed and the family is very friendly.
Anna Haring, Netherlands
Sophia Hofer, Iceland
Tobias Kapaun, Austria
For my 14-week practice, I spend 6 weeks at home. At the beginning it was rainy, so my father (my boss) was able to do a lot of work, such as the livestock trailer. After the bad weather phase we made the first cut. My tasks were to lubricate machines, check oils and fluids and adjust everything. We also looked for fawns in the meadows. Then I mowed, spun, swathed and raked the steep areas. In the morning we brought the silo bales to the farm and in the afternoon the loose hay was brought in. I'm looking forward to the rest of the time.
