"Welcome" to the farm

For the first time, there is also an "Open Farm Door Day" in Switzerland. On Sunday, the Iten farm in Steinhausen showed the idyllic, but also the difficult aspects of farming life.

Farmers and farmer's wives have become "special" occupations, with urban adults often having no real idea about them. What does life on a farm really look like, how are fruits and vegetables planted, how are animals reared, and what do farmer families do every day, were the themes of the "Open Farm Door Day", organised by the Swiss Farmers' Union and carried out by around 150 operations throughout Switzerland. The Iten farm in Steinhausen also invited young and old to a close-up visit.

"Come, I'll show you where the cows are," says little Emmeli, leading the journalist to the large walking stall, where a herd of mother cows with their calves and a mighty bull have retreated from the heat. Behind the stall, under a giant sequoia, there are a few plastic tunnels in which vegetables grow. "I am particularly proud of the 150 varieties of tomatoes that I grow myself, and that are very popular with our customers," explains Emmelis’ grandmother, Vreny Nicolini. For 25 years, she has been running the small business together with Markus Iten, which also includes a large orchard with about 280 cherry, apple, pear, plum and prune trees.

Vreny Nicolini and Markus Iten with the vintage tractor, dating back to 1952. Image: Patrick Hürlimann (Steinhausen, May 31, 2019)

Countless berry bushes grow behind the house, including blueberry bushes full of ripening fruits that have an impressive age of 45 years and more than a man-height. 40 chickens and 26 "chicks" live in a fenced garden shaded by walnut, elderberry, rows of blackberries and irises. It smells like hay. It is idyllic.

"I've known Vreny for almost 50 years," says Carmen Jäggi from Rotkreuz. She stands in the shed and serves food and drink to the guests. "I'm always there when she needs me, and help out with the harvest or if an extra hand is needed somewhere." She tells how her friend was not brought up as a farmer's wife, but has taken on this profession with great commitment.

The Iten-Hof is small, but rich in habitats, which are so interlinked that it’s also popular with hedgehogs, and the stall also offers swallows a place to build their nests, as Markus Iten proudly points out. He stands next to his old tractors, some of which are true classic vehicles, and explains the various agricultural machines and how the mother-cow care of his Limousin cattle works. His eyes light up, and you can feel the lifelong joy of this simple life with animals, plants and soil. When the conversation inevitably turns to food prices, competition from Europe, loss of agricultural land wear and farming policy, reflection about his chosen life appears behind his smile – a life that no longer appeals to their own children - a life involving a lot of work, low pay and little free time. It is good that the profession, which guarantees the basic needs of society and makes a major contribution to the protection of the landscape, is given a lot of attention on this special day.

Further information on the "Open Day" can be found on www.offene-hoftueren.ch and www.iten-hof.ch