In the centre of the project region, a further fence-building training day took place at a LIFEstockProtect Competence Centre in Rennweg, Carinthia. Biohof Karlbauer is a small, organic dairy farm at 1,400m above sea level. Lena Schaidl runs the farm and takes care of about 50 cows and calves. The team of around 15 people, consisting of partners from ABDW, Bio Austria, Eurac, EWS and VetMedUni, came together to help replace an old permanent fence on one of the fields.
The team got to work replacing old, barbed wire-connected wooden posts with new steel T-posts. Plastic isolators were attached to the posts, which were then linked with the wires. The new 1.2m fence posts used 5 bands placed at 20cm, 40cm, 60cm, 90cm and 110cm from the ground. A visible “warning tape” was attached to the finished fence to warn animals of the fence’s presence and make them stay clear of the pasture. Finally, a few fence-building experts showed participants how the proper grounding worked and demonstrated the electrification process.
The conditions were ideal for fence building. It wasn’t too warm and the terrain, while a little uneven, wasn’t too steep. Construction ended in the afternoon, just as the rain was setting in, although the team members from South Tyrol left earlier. To close the day, Lena supplied the fence-builders with a traditional Jause filled with local farm produce.
LIFEstockProtect would also like to thank Lena Schaidl for her hospitality and all the people who helped and advised with the fence building.
