International Women's Day

Young female farmers pressed into “old clichés”

Martina Kiefer, Jenifer Pöschl, regional farmer Viktoria Brandner, Maria Pein (Vice-President of the Chamber of Agriculture), Elisabeth Flucher, Beate Horvatek (from left)

(Bild: Christa Blümel)

30,000 Styrian women currently work as farmers, a third of whom even run the farm. These are often young, innovative, highly motivated women with an excellent education - but they still have to cope with multiple burdens and fight against "old habits" and clichés.

The Chamber of Agriculture as a professional association is already a reflection of reality - the executive floor is already remarkably male-dominated. "We are calling for the agricultural committees to be made up of 30 percent women," says Viktoria Brandner, a regional farmer. However, there is a broad consensus that the path to achieving this is already arduous and rocky. The young farmers are making faster progress: "40 percent of the board of young farmers is made up of women," says Martina Kiefer, who left her circle of friends in Vienna behind after her studies and great jobs to take over farming in southern Styria together with her husband. And she finds clear words: "Some old men in management positions seem to be afraid of young, well-educated women . . ."

And continue to want to force them into outdated role stereotypes; especially if they want to take time for leisure, sport and culture in addition to work and family, "this is often not yet anchored in the countryside," says Maria Pein, Deputy Head of the Chamber of Agriculture.

The role of WLAN and sports facilities

Beate Horvatek, for example, who has completed two degrees, works as a teacher, is a mother and also runs a farm on her own, knows this! "I sometimes have to really justify the fact that my daughter is in childcare," she says. But the support in her community, for example, is enormous, "I feel that I and my opinion are heard".

Maria Pein would like to see much more of this: "Relief in childcare and elderly care, digital infrastructure with internet, social and medical services as well as educational opportunities are essential for well-trained women to return to the farm and 'stay in the countryside'". A pious wish on the occasion of Women's World Day on March 8.