A clear “yes” to organic farming. Back then and today.

A vocation without compromises

Our story.

All big endeavours began as small ones. And they often required no more than some courage, firm intentions and looking ahead. Then everything simply takes it course; come what may.

The parlour on a South Tyrolean farm in 1990. One wooden table, six fellow farmers and a firm decision. A decision without any ifs, ands or buts.

Hot days. Cool nights. An Alpine-Mediterranean climate and Alpine mountain ridges. For decades, they have made South Tyrol the apple grove of Europe. The fathers of our grandfathers were aware of this. With short spaces between trees, special pruning techniques and drip irrigation systems, our fathers made the apple orchards more productive.

And they knew how to protect them against frost and pests. They liked the thought that all of this could function completely and exclusively in harmony with nature, entirely without synthetic plant protection. The thought took root, ripened and grew into a fixed idea.

A mother is harvesting apples with her toddler daughter

In 1990, a group of six farmers gathered around a wooden table in the parlour on a farm. One wooden table, six fellow farmers and a firm decision: to only use organic cultivation methods from then on. In harmony with nature, no ifs, ands or buts. The critics were loud. They heard everything from “You’ll see, the apples won’t look nice and will taste terrible.” to “You can’t do that, it will never work!” and “You are tainting our family’s honour.”
That didn’t leave us cold, but we didn’t let their words stop us. From year to year, we learned how to work with nature better and saw the successes. And other like-minded people joined us.

Hartmann Calliari with like-minded people

Biosüdtirol.

This is us.

350 organic farmers and their families. On average, our farms are smaller than five football pitches. Manageable – which gives us time for organic farming.

At the turn of the millennium, six families had become more than 100. Ten years later, we numbered 150 families. And today? Now there are 350 of us, still as fiercely determined as on that first day. We farmers had different reasons for converting to organic farming. In some cases the younger generation took over the farm and had a different philosophy, and in others the neighbour’s organic apples were very impressive. And in still others, the big idea started with something very small: for example, with a new member of the family. Who should start its life with organic apples.

When we return from the apple orchards after a long day of work, exchange our boots for a pair of slippers and get comfortable on a stove-side bench or sofa, we do this with a clear conscience. Because we know that our path is the right one for us. And because we know that we are not walking it alone.