Farmers’ Knowledge and Farming Practices

His weather forecasts were uniquely good. [...] He knew every cloud formation, the behaviour of the morning and evening breeze. Many things he could sniff out from the air and the direction of the wind, or [he could hear them] in the sound of the wind whistling.

Farmer’s son Leopold Kandler (*1913) about his uncle Hias. Leopold Kandler, Die Bichlbauernleute. Eine Familiengeschichte. Gresten [no year].

Since the end of the 19th century, ideas of a “typical” rural way of life became a political issue. They provided a counter-model to the so-called “rural exodus”, to urban lifestyles and new state interventions into local affairs. Rural life and farming per se stood for health, harmony, a sense of connectedness with the land, living beings, soil, nature and “homeland”. Such imaginations were widespread and accepted. From the early 20th century also authoritarian and/or fascist forces referred to them to justify their ideologies. For other contemporaries, agriculture appeared to be the opposite of social progress: Necessary but traditional, removed from technical achievements, science, modern accounting and work organisation due to its special characteristics. Elements of these ideas can still be found today, whether farmers are ascribed a “common” or “healthy farmer’s sense” or are accused of boycotting measures for climate and environmental protection.

Such framing can prevent a realistic view of farming, which is at the centre of this workshop. As it is characterised by natural conditions, weather, soil, climate, animals and plants etc., farming requires specific knowledge and practices, which some scientists even describe as “care” (Krzywoszynska): Farmers are required to adapt flexibly to constantly changing circumstances, to develop a sense of necessities on the farm. What characterises farming practices and farmers’ knowledge in comparison to other producers and industries? How do farming practices differ? How do farmers acquire their knowledge and how do they pass it on?

Programme

13:00-13:20   
Brigitte Semanek (Institute of Rural History – IGLR), Jessica Richter (IGLR) & Georg Wiesinger (Federal Institute of Agricultural Economics, Rural and Mountain Research, Vienna)
Welcome Address

13:20-13:55   
Přemysl Mácha (Institute of Ethnology of the Czech Academy of Sciences) & Jessica Richter (IGLR)
Farmers Knowledge, Memory and Common Sense

13:55-14:30
Christian R. Vogl & Christoph Schunko (Institute of Organic Farming, BOKU University)
Examples for Research on Local Knowledge at the Institute of Organic Farming at the BOKU University

Chair: Oliver Kühschelm (IGLR)

14:30-14:50   Coffee break

14:50-15:25   
Peter Moser (Archives of Rural History, Bern)
Knowledge and Skills in the Agrarian-Industrial Knowledge Society: Power Relations, Actors and Institutions (ca. 1870-1950)

15:25-16:00   
Ika Darnhofer (Institute of Agricultural and Forestry Economics, BOKU University)
How do We Conceptualize Family Farmers: As Rational Producer-Entrepreneurs or as Embodied Peasants?

16:00-16:35   
Thassilo Hazod (Department of European Ethnology, University of Vienna)
Peasant Knowledge and the Economic Practice of Direct Marketing

Chair: Teresa Petrik (IGLR)

16:35-16:55   Coffee break

16:55-17:30   
Andreas Koch (Department of Sociology and Social Geography & Centre for Ethics and Poverty Research, Paris Lodron University of Salzburg)
Local Rural Empowerment Strategies

Chair: Jessica Richter (IGLR)

17:30-18:00   Conclusion and Future Perspectives

Please find the programme as pdf here.

Concept
Jessica Richter (IGLR) & Georg Wiesinger (Federal Institute of Agricultural Economics, Rural and Mountain Research)
Registration

Registration
Please contact Pauline Bögner by 28 February 2025 to register for the workshop: pauline.boegner@ruralhistory.at

In cooperation with                                                           With the kind support of

Photos: private; Before the Coming Storm 1928/30. Artist: Nikolay Andreyev (1882-1947), Public Domain; Soya Harvest, Pixabay CC-0 Charles Ricardo, Public Domain; Grain harvest near Altmünster (Austria), 1900. Photographer: Philipp von Württemberg, Public Domain.