Sustainable alpine sheep farming in Weiz, Austria

Key Learnings

• Cooperation: Farmer cooperatives can help lower the workload on individual farmers by bundling resources, saving time, and negotiating fair prices, which is particularly beneficial for small farms. This also enables their adaptation to changing climatic conditions.  
• Co-Creation: Agricultural activities are highly embedded in regional development. Involving farmers or farmer representatives in the process of regional strategy development can especially foster agriculture in the region and better preparedness for agriculture under changing climatic conditions.
• Sheep as alternative livestock: Compared to cattle, sheep reduce soil erosion caused by climate change and need less water during water scarcity, making them a good alternative for pasturing at high altitudes and on steep meadows.

Summary

The preservation of small-scale sheep farming in Weiz enhances climate change adaptation and biodiversity, creating high-nature-value farmland. Cooperatives bolster economic resilience by enabling farmers to market high-quality products and buffer against market fluctuations, making sheep farming more appealing. These practices benefit biodiversity, support regional value-added initiatives, and promote tourism. Farmers have adapted their pasture management in response to climate impacts on natural resources. Future support for small farmers could include frameworks for knowledge exchange, contextualised consulting, and institutionalised educational measures.

Contact

MOVINGifz [dot] at (MOVING[at]ifz[dot]at)