It is early morning, and Josef Göltl is already outside with his animals, feeding the fresh green lucerne clover to his some 150 pigs of the breeds mangalica, Turopolje, and Swabian-Hall. “Raising the animals in a species-appropriate way in open, outdoor spaces, giving them natural feed, and treating them respectfully is very important to me,” explains Göltl, scratching the thick coat of a woolly pig.

It quickly becomes clear that the leading role on Göltl’s organic farm is played by his pigs, visibly healthy animals that are very happy out in the muddy pasture in any kind of weather. “No matter how cold it is, thanks to their thick layer of fat the woolly pigs can be outside the whole year – and they also obviously enjoy being here,” explains Josef Göltl.

Another point of pride for Josef Göltl is his organic farming operation: “We deliberately do not use concentrated feed, and we cultivate the lucerne clover for our pigs ourselves. Even in winter we feed the dried clover to our pigs.” The Burgenlander chose this tough life on the farm himself and runs the business with passion. “Being an organic farmer is my dream career,” says Göltl, gazing proudly at his animals in the pasture.

“I worked for a time for the prominent Burgenland winegrower Umathum and was immediately fascinated by their biodynamic processing methods. I realised very quickly that this was how I wanted to work on my own farm as well. And it was not difficult to convince my father,” says Göltl. “Even before he turned the farm over to me, we worked together to convert it to an organic farming operation.”

The Göltls also carefully converted and modernised their old barns and stalls, because, as Josef says, “it is very important to me to build on the experiences of my ancestors, who worked for generations as farmers.” At the same time, Josef Göltl is also open to new things. “Improving what is already here, but also constantly developing new ideas and putting them into practice: this is the name of the game for a successful future.”

“Everyone who visits our farm is invited to have a look behind the scenes and see how the pigs live and how we work,” says Göltl, as transparency is a high priority for him. The organic farmer also likes to tell visitors the story behind his products and invites them to sample his wares at the farm shop: “This is how I want to get customers excited about new taste sensations.”

The Göltl family wants to continue to pursue organic farming with a conscious focus on a recirculation system at the farm. What does this mean exactly? In a nutshell, says Göltl, it means “reuse”. “Only very little should be lost. As far as possible, everything should be put back into use and reprocessed in all sorts of ways.”

The Göltls also try to reduce transport routes: the distance food has to travel should be as short as possible. As Göltl explains: “We produce most things ourselves, and the rest is supplied by our long-time partners in the region.”