Bavaria's sheep farmers are having a hard time with the drought of the past few months - they have hardly been able to stock up on feed for the winter. But that is by no means the only problem.
Munich (dpa / lby) - For many sheep in Bavaria, food could become scarce in winter. "It's dramatic," said Martin Bartl, Managing Director of the Bavarian Sheep Farmers' Association. The drought of the past few months meant that far too few fodder could be stored for the winter and the grass grew very sparsely on the pastures. In some cases, the fodder that was intended for the cold season had to be given to the sheep - "and is only sparsely available anyway".
Bartl and his comrades-in-arms are anxious about the coming months: "That's our big concern: It's going to be difficult towards winter." Sheep farmers are in competition with cattle farmers when buying additional feed. And you would have to make a tight calculation anyway. According to estimates by the association, an hourly wage of five to six euros remains for a full-time employee. If feed now has to be bought as well, it would make the economic situation of the farms more difficult. Many would have to - if any - tackle reserves. Some would probably stop altogether or at least reduce their livestock.
Bartl emphasized: "Shepherds are attached to their job, the passion is great." Therefore, many would try to make it through the winter.
It has rained more in the south of Bavaria than in the north, but the sheep farmers there are still very concerned. Bartl specifically named the district of Garmisch-Partenkirchen. There is a danger here from three predators: wolf, golden jackal and bear.
The mountain pastures are already largely empty for fear of being attacked - "four weeks too early," as Bartl emphasized. Sheep farming in the district lives from alpine farming. You can bridge four weeks, but there is great uncertainty for the coming year. "What if no one can bring their sheep up to the mountain pasture anymore?"
In South Tyrol, for example, the sheep population is falling by 20 percent every year. "I can't imagine that at all," said Bartl. The approximately 7,000 sheep and goats in the Garmisch-Partenkirchen district are mostly kept in smaller farms with up to 30 sheep. There are many young, dedicated sheep farmers in the region, and mountain sheep breeds that are threatened with extinction are also kept here.
Protecting the pastures with fences at higher altitudes is impossible because it is rocky and steep. People live there from free alpine farming. If predators continue to come here to kill sheep, "that will be the end of alpine farming".
In Bavaria, the State Office for Statistics counted 259,100 sheep as of November 3 last year. They lived in around 2200 farms.
