Pferdeland: Meyer Family farm, Westerwald, Germany

The half-timbered farm house at the Meyer family's "Pferdeland" near Grenzau

Sowing machinery (with a detachable power harrow front), hay mowers and silage choppers

Part of the mother cow crossbred herd in shedding. Note the silage and hay stored behind the pens.

Solar panels cover an area of 60 metres by 25 metres on the arena shed

An impressive equestrian arena with dust-settling fogger line in operation

The symbol of quality assurance in farm production in Rheinland-Pfalz

Pferdeland: Meyer Family farm

The Westerwald is a picturesque region of farms, villages and forests in central western Germany. It was the northern limit of Roman settlement due in part to the distance from Rome and the climatic conditions. It was the centre of my interest for a number of days, and its proximity to a number of cities such as Koblenz and an abundance of towns and villages qualifies it as a peri-urban area. The farm enterprises undertaken in the area are broad and varied, and the scale of farm investment and size differs greatly within the region.

The Meyer family farm 80 hectares of land near the town of Grenzau. Willi Meyer and two of his sons form the operational team at the farm, with the younger son Tobias getting ready to go to university to study management in agriculture. Thirty hectares are used to grow cereals with 50 hectares of grassland and pasture. Cereals grown in rotation are oilseed rape, wheat, oats, barley and occasionally peas. Ryegrass forms the perennial base of pastures.

Formerly a farm principally producing grain and pigs, the farm was a dairy for a number of years. Pig production was limited by small facilities by modern standards, and an increase in the number of privately owned pleasure horses prompted a change to an agistment facility 20 years ago. Now providing accommodation for 60 horses on a permanent basis, the farm offers a range of options for owners including various scales of care (full board, feed only, boxes or yards). Most of the owners live in towns within 10 kilometres but the density of population means most have no room for a horse at home.

Cereal grain produced on the farm is consumed by the horses and a herd of mother cows (vealer mothers). Hay and silage is produced from the grassland with a special silage product being produced for the horses. It has a lower moisture content and a different bacterial inoculant to the silage produced for the cattle. The family has a number of tractors with capacity of more than 130 hp as although small paddocks are used sometimes jobs have to be done in a short period of time due to the likelihood of poor weather. All animals on the farm are shedded during winter.

In an area that receives 750-800 mm of rainfall, soils on this farm are not as productive as others in less hilly areas. There is a scale used in German agriculture to rate the productivity potential of soil out of a possible 100 points. The farm has soils in the range of 50 to 70 points. Fertiliser is used at sowing and again in crops when they reach 100-150 mm when urea is applied. Up to 6 tonnes of wheat per hectare can be expected at this farm, and up to 8 tonnes per hectare in flatter areas with better soils.

The shedding on the farm allows for changes in the size of the cattle herd. While currently 20 cows and their offspring are in the pens, over 80 cows and followers were on the farm last year. Price changes led to a reduction in numbers, but an increase can be accommodated quickly. Calves are grown out to 700 kg plus on a diet of milled grain and silage. The herd uses a Limousin bull over Fleckvieh and crossbred cows.

Willi Meyer expressed the regrets of farmers worldwide as he discussed rising prices of fertilisers, chemicals and fuel while noting the accompanying drop in commodity prices. He also wondered at the various state and Federal German agriculture departments' responses to diseases such as Bluetongue, where a vaccine had become available for use but no one department would sanction its use. Farmers were acting to ensure correct action was being taken to control the problem but felt little support. He also regretted the position of a farmer as a price taker and compared this to the ability of others to speculate as opposed to being a producer.

The family has moved to take advantage of rebates and contracts by establishing a major photovoltaic array on the dressage arena shed. The family has also converted one of the tractors to run on rapeseed oil when tax inducements made this action economically favourable. The tax advantage in this sector has been reducing and in 2011 there will be no difference between diesel and rapeseed oil and therefore no incentive to continue the practice.

The family has contracts with a number of local villages to clear roads of snowfall during winter. It is an onerous task with starts in the colder months before 3 am. The continual spraying of salt onto cleared road surfaces behind the tractor has led to extensive surface rust on components of the tractor.