For the first time, the Bio Austria initiative has given its award for special efforts to biodiversity to a member farm in Upper Austria: The Diermayr family from Neuhofen im Innkreis was awarded the biodiversity plaque. The Diermayr family took over the 100-hectare arable farm in 2012 and switched to organic farming.
The family has implemented extensive measures to promote biodiversity on their organic farm: wild corners with nettles as an important habitat for the peacock butterfly, nesting boxes for falcons, leaving dead wood or creating ponds. A meadow orchard is continuously being added.
Planting and maintaining hedges is particularly important to the Diermayr family, because they create and connect living spaces. Flower strips were also laid out – however, maintaining them posed a number of challenges for the organic farmers due to the high annual rainfall of 1000 millimeters.
“As organic farmers, it is important to us to work in harmony with nature. Preserving and promoting biodiversity on our farm is one of our most important concerns. After all, it is not just the future of our own farm that depends, but that of all food production pollinators, field birds, earthworms & Co,” says Xaver Diermayr. “The progressive decline in biodiversity and species worldwide requires rapid and extensive measures. Bio Austria has therefore anchored specifications in the association guidelines. The member farms thus exceed the already fundamental additional services of organic agriculture in terms of biodiversity,” says Gertraud Grabmann, from the Innviertel region. Federal chairwoman of Bio Austria. Despite all the efforts, it is frustrating that many “biodiversity services in the new support program ÖPUL do not appeal to farmers and many criteria do not fit,” says Diermayr. Creating good biodiversity areas and maintaining them in a high-quality condition is associated with high risk and effort.
Frustration with new program
This effort will not be covered by the new funding program. “In addition, all previous biodiversity measures on our farm, such as the more than 1,200 linear meters of hedges and rows of trees, fallow fields that have already been converted into grassland, etc., are not counted as biodiversity areas,” says Diermayr.
“Although the framework conditions are not very motivating, we do not let it take our joy and thank you for receiving the biodiversity board in recognition of our measures on the farm,” says Xaver Diermayr. Bio Austria with 13,500 members is a network of Austrian organic farmers.
Source: Nachrichten
