Grias di dear CrowdFarmer, My name is Ramona Besler. My professional path first led me to social work. During my studies I worked on a small goat farm in Spain during semester break - to feel my body and not just my head. This month really touched me and grounded me. It showed me that I felt much more at home in agriculture - in touch with nature, animals, physical activity and the seasons - than in social pedagogy. So I decided to train as a farmer on a Demeter farm at Lake Constance. After my apprenticeship, I gained further experience and impressions during an alpine summer in Switzerland and three very instructive years on the road on a traditional peregrination. I was then able to consolidate and deepen all these experiences, impressions and knowledge at the master school for organic farming. It was at this time that I met my husband Tobias and his family. It was clear to me that after master school I wanted to go to a mountain farm and preferably work with dairy cows with horns. So it was probably fate that Tobias and my paths crossed. We now have two small children, Madrisa and Wendelin. The two of them accompany us in our work. I am an all-rounder, to a certain extent, just like everyone else in our field. I am involved in all types of work - the stable, haying, office, cheese packaging, even fencing the pastures (my favorite job 😊). With so many pastures we have a lot of fences. And with our heavy snows (often two meters) in the winter we have to dismantle and rebuild them every year. I share these jobs and many more with my husband Tobias, my father-in-law Hans and my brother-in-law Hannes. Tobias is also our mechanic and Hannes is also our dairy specialist spending 365 days a year in the alpine dairy for our delicious mountain cheese. My sister-in-law Kathi is also on board. She diligently takes care of the cheese shipping, supports us with mountain haying and our cows with herbal medicine. My mother-in-law Wiltrud looks after our holiday apartments. If you would like to learn more about our everyday life and the life of our cows, you are welcome to receive our monthly Cow's Letter or take a farm tour with us. For me, it is always rewarding to interact with our consumers and CrowdFarmers. It’s through this interaction that bridges can be built. I get a better idea of the people for whom we produce valuable food products. It also gives me a lot of pleasure to share my enthusiasm and to pass on what it means to be a farmer and what it involves. At the same time, food is something essential for me. On the one hand in relation to our dealings with nature and the environment. On the other hand as the basis of human life. We want to create a real alternative to factory farming and industrial food production that allows people to consume animal products responsibly from ethically acceptable husbandry. It makes us happy to produce high-quality, healthy and tasty food products for our CrowdFarmers and we hope to be appreciated in the form of a fair income for our family. By adopting a cow, you not only make an effective contribution to the preservation of mountain farming with species-appropriate animal husbandry, but at the same time you give yourself the gift of natural, valuable food.

Our mountain farm in the southern Oberallgäu has been in operation for many generations. It is located in the Stillachtal at an elevation of 963m, in the middle of the mountains on the northern side of the Alps. It all began with using the higher valleys as summer pasture for the animals. Over time, these summer quarters were inhabited year-round (probably encouraged by the division of inheritances). Schwand was first mentioned in Oberstdorf's history books in 1707. In the meantime, there are three generations living on our farm (young - middle-aged - old, just like in the cheese cellar). The versatility of the farm is reflected in the variety of professions we have learned: metal worker, master farmer, agricultural machinery mechanic, dairy specialist, housekeeper, animal health practitioner. In addition to the 50 milk cows and their offspring we also have six chickens, three cats and a handful of goats on our farm. But it is our passion for cows and the connection with nature that remain the core of our business. In the summer, our cows graze in lush alpine meadows up to 2000m. These meadows provide an especially healthy plant diet. Most of our land includes landscape and nature conservation areas which we specially maintain for the preservation of alpine flora and fauna without using any artificial fertilizers. We cultivate our 127 hectares, containing up to 180 different herbs, flowers and grasses, according to the principle of graduated grassland utilization. We use a large portion of the land intensively for our winter fodder for several cuts, but the alpine pastures are used very extensively, because they are only grazed once with very few animals. Depending on yield, our cows are also fed Bavarian grain and bran in order to meet their energy and protein requirements. And due to the limited yield of our conservation areas we source a portion of our hay for young cattle locally. It is our goal to show that it is possible to keep horned cows in a free stall barn, to feed them without silage and that despite grazing they can achieve sufficient milk yield and high age. The cow's well-being is our top priority. We mainly keep brown cattle, but also try to integrate endangered breeds such as Tyrolean Grey and Swiss Original Brown cattle. We strive to buy regional feed (such as grain), to avoid using antibiotics and we do no surface spraying. For our cheese production we use the energy of sun and wood. We do not use any artificial fertilizers. We rely on a biological slurry treatment according to the principle of Terra Preta. This is particularly gentle on the soil and groundwater. It optimally supports the natural nutrient cycle of agricultural land and contributes to the formation of a sustainable humus layer. We have deliberately decided against an organic seal, as we prefer to use our time to maintain personal contact with our customers instead of spending it with even more bureaucracy.