Deeply rooted
Sepp Schreier was one of the first farmers to join our dairy cooperative – a step he never regretted. The Naturkäserei guarantees a stable business and assures that his son Sepp Junior can work beside him – and help him take care of Bounty, Popcorn and Salami.
At the foot of the beautiful Neureuth mountain you find Gasse, a tiny, incredibly charming and picturesque hamlet of Gmund: a row of farms nestling in a scenic countryside with lush green pastures that feed happy, healthy cows. They graze on nutritious grass and oversee the valley down to the lake. While they leisurely roam the soft soil, they know they get a lot of attention and entertainment when they return to their stalls to be milked.
It’s a true family affair at the Schreier farm and a big load of humour seems to run in their genes. Sepp, his wife Gerti, and their 29-year-old son Seppi are fun people – and they are loving and caring when it comes to each and every creature on their farm. From the tiny kitten to the granny cow Pinzä, every animal, every bee and every tree has a place in the Schreier’s heart.
Pinzä, however, holds a special place among the 45 cows. She is the eldest, born on May 06th 2006. She has given birth to eleven calves. On many farms, Sepp Senior explains, “a cow has to go after two calves.” Yet, a farmer who cares for his cattle’s well-being and loves to see them grow old, will enjoy them more and more with each year. “A good farm has old cows,” Sepp states and his son Seppi adds that it’s great to have an experienced cow lady “who knows the way and leads the others.”
Pinzä, however, holds a special place among the 45 cows. She is the eldest, born on May 06th 2006. She has given birth to eleven calves. On many farms, Sepp Senior explains, “a cow has to go after two calves.” Yet, a farmer who cares for his cattle’s well-being and loves to see them grow old, will enjoy them more and more with each year. “A good farm has old cows,” Sepp states and his son Seppi adds that it’s great to have an experienced cow lady “who knows the way and leads the others.”
The Schreier family may agree on granny Pinzä, yet they each have their own favorites among the herd. Each is unique, they say – and they love picking unique names, especially with culinary references underlining the Schreier’s unique sense of humour: there is Popcorn and Praline, Salami and Beefy. While Balisto is the daughter of Bounty, and mother of Bueno – all named after chocolate bars. “We also once kept a bull and called him Nullinger,” says Gerti. “As he really turned out to be a null when it came to breeding, we decided to pick only positive names.”
The Schreier family is as funny as heartwarming by nature, but farm life is anything but easy. Sepp joined the Naturkäserei in its earliest stage. His son had just started his brick-layer apprenticeship and never expected to be able to join his parents on the farm and one day inherit it. “Without the Naturkäserei cooperative we would have had to quit sooner or later,” Seppi says and lists the options you have as a farmer today: “grow, disappear, or specialize.” The Schreiers survived, because they specialized in hay milk, but both men still work part-time. Gasse, beautifully located above the Tegernsee, once was home for 13 dairy farmers. Today, three of them are left. The Bavarian picture perfect, it seems to fade.
But why does Seppi still want to continue? Small farmers face big challenges. “Well,” he says with a smile, “I’m pretty much in love with that life.” The room gets quiet for a moment before Gerti begins to explain – and you can hear the emotions in her voice: “This kind of work holds something special. When they look at you, when they come to you, when a new calf is born. You cannot explain those feelings – and you cannot replace them either.” A temporary helper once said that he’d never seen such even-tempered cattle as the one on the Schreier farm. “So gentle and well-behaved,” says Gerti and adds with a loud laugh: “See?! The more we enjoy ourselves the better it is for our livestock.”