Katja Mahal

His approach of placing animal welfare in the foreground in animal production in was received very openly there and much was implemented directly. It is probably partly thanks to Professor Boehncke that neither the tails of pigs nor the beaks of chickens have been docked en masse in Finland for decades and that this is not regarded as a problem. Prof. Boehncke's impulses have also had a profound effect on cattle farming: Feeding continues to be grass-based, space is generous, efforts are being made to integrate grazing even when converting to loose housing, and antibiotic use is low.

Regardless of the fact that the start of the focus on organic farming was postponed year after year into the future, the mood at the Witzenhausen site was very dynamic. What isn't ready-made, we just have to try out was the motto that applied to far more than just our studies. So we founded toddler groups and - as a logical consequence - toddler kindergarten groups. We discovered the WG as a new form of living together, and looked for communal forms of business. Even though I broke off my studies in 1991 to move to Finland, both my studies in Witzenhausen and what was going on besides my studies had a deep impact on me. I took with me the knowledge that in Witzenhausen, ecological food production is being researched and tried out with great vigor, as well as the experience that everything the world needs for a fair and healthy way of life can be shaped locally by a few like-minded people.

After graduating as an agricultural engineer in Finland - this time with a focus on consulting - I worked for many years as a freelance consultant and agricultural journalist. Thanks to the experiences from Witzenhausen, I was able to accelerate many development processes for individual farms and the entire industry like an enzyme. In addition to the university and its knowledge, I was helped by what is also constantly emerging in Witzenhausen: associations, initiatives, companies that are generously willing to share their knowledge. Sometimes it was a phone call or an e-mail, sometimes a product. The visits of Klaus Anduschus, a biogas consultant from Witzenhausen, helped to rethink biogas in Finland and to try out small biogas plants on farm size in severe climatic conditions. A turning point for the interpretation of the Finnish interpretation of the EU Hygiene Regulation was a seminar I organized with the help of the Association of Farmers with Artisanal Meat Processing in Witzenhausen for a group of Finnish farmers, veterinarians and a representative of the Finnish Ministry of Agriculture 2012. After the well-founded contributions of Hans-Jürgen Müller and Andrea Fink-Kessler and the farm visits to small slaughterhouses in the area, the scope for interpretation in Finland was made more in the interest of the small farms.

The seminar was also a turning point for me. The few days, fully exposed to the special flair of Witzenhausen, did not let me go for a long time and a voice inside me asked: When, if not now?

In April 2013, I found myself back in the lectures of the Organic Agriculture course that had been established many years ago. It was supposed to be just a little time out to refresh myself, but I sat in the lectures for twelve hours a day for weeks on end, soaking up the utopia that had come true back then like a dry sponge. It wasn't the least bit exhausting; on the contrary. I had arrived at an oasis in the desert like a traveler dying of thirst and was feasting. On what? I don't know exactly. It was a mystical experience. Certainly knowledge, the mood, the possibilities were all part of it. 

Shortly before I finished the Bachelor of Organic Agriculture in 2016, I turned 50. Inside me the age-appropriate question of what is missing? Shortly after that, I woke up and there it was: the vision of "If cows would talk", -a photo exhibition that builds bridges between cows and people. It came true through a Leader project and a miraculous cooperation with the Association of Agricultural Producers of the Southwest Finland Region. In the meantime, I am now touring Finland and Europe with the exhibition - again on a freelance basis - and dreaming of an action at documenta 15. In November 2020, my first book of a whole book series with pictures from the exhibition will be published. It is a children's book about everyday life on a modern dairy farm. In German, the title would perhaps be: Galopp im Kuhstall.

For me, Witzenhausen is a constant inspiration, a living inspiration. Thank you.