Elisabeth Fresen
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Farmer - the most beautiful profession in the world
Elisabeth Fresen - BSc Organic Farming, graduated 2018.
Currently: Farm manager of the organic farm Stoffers Hoff, Verden, and federal chairwoman of AbL.
Being a farmer is the most beautiful job in the world for me. But I only became aware of that after I graduated from high school. It had been clear to me for a long time that I wanted to work for climate and nature protection, fair trade and healthy food, and perhaps also politically. It was only relatively late that I realized that the solution lay right under my nose, on my parents' farm.
Today, a good ten years later, I manage Stoffers Hoff in Verden (Aller). We keep about 100 suckler cows on a good 150 hectares in year-round grazing. We manage a large part of the organic farm according to nature conservation guidelines and try to protect the climate, species, water, animals and our cultural landscape with our work. But we also want to earn money with our work and have contact with consumers. Therefore one of my first projects is the development of a direct marketing. Witzenhausen was an important stop on my way to self-employment. Why?
Studying in Witzenhausen - practical, profound and worth living in
In my training as a farmer, I had learned to milk cows, look after laying hens, memorized fist numbers and what crop rotation is. Combined with the farming skills I learned from my family and a little bit of cockiness, I felt quite well prepared for my future as a farmer. But I was hungry for more, for more in-depth knowledge, as well as for vision, networking and agricultural policy. For all that, Witzenhausen seemed to offer me the best overall package. With a lot of anticipation and some prejudice against science that is far removed from practice, I started my basic studies and learned right away: teaching in Witzenhausen is practical, examines tangible questions and challenges of farms, develops concepts, and sheds light on the advantages and disadvantages of organic farming.
Besides the first lectures, I associate my arrival in Witzenhausen with loving parties in the club, in the forest, in shared flats, with good food, with fellowship and social rounds, with exchange and debates about good agriculture with the basic studies above all . In my main studies, I focused on marketing and economics, worked out a secure foundation in several papers , on the basis of which I can now make decisions, realize my ideas and work securely. Looking back, however, Witzenhausen is more: a diverse and colorful place, a place worth living in, a place eager for knowledge, where I enjoyed being at home and found friendships for life.
Helping to shape the political framework
So I was able to sharpen my skills and goals in Witzenhausen and lay solid foundations. At the same time, I sensed limits. Not only we farmers and students would determine the future of our agriculture, but also the legal and political framework. I wanted to be involved and help shape this. I found my political home in the Arbeitsgemeinschaft bäuerliche Landwirtschaft (AbL). For several years, I have been volunteering on the federal board and was elected federal chairwoman. Today, when I fight for a farmer-friendly, resource-conserving agriculture and work on concepts for change, I also draw on my wealth of knowledge and my network from Witzenhausen.
Agriculture is facing profound change. Climate change, the necessary restructuring of animal husbandry, the death of farms, the loss of biodiversity and right-wing forces in the countryside present us with major challenges. The study location Witzenhausen, students, graduates and teachers bear responsibility for shaping the agriculture of the future. We all bear responsibility for a resilient, regional food system, for conservation agriculture, for common ground instead of deep trenches, for livable rural areas and for diverse farms.