Cows to the alps

Tis the season for the cows to go up to the alps. One morning at 5am Michael and I heard lots of bells and they just kept getting closer and closer. It turns out it was a herd of cows walking along the road in the early morning on their way up to the alps.

Again this morning we heard some bells as once again just a few cows were being moved around (down the road) to new pastures.

I have since learned a lot about cows in the region. The farmer is with the cows down in the valley, and he milks and cares for them all winter. In the spring when the snow is gone the farmer with a herder brings the cows up into the alps (the alps are the meadows in the mountains above the tree line).

The herder is usually some young guy who likes nature and wants to live alone in the mountains for weeks on end during the summer. Apparently in my region the herders come from Austria and may spend their winters hanging out in Australia. They don't make much money, but all summer long they don't really spend it either. In distant alps the herder may go up with a pig and some chickens as well as flour etc for his food for the summer. The herder watches the cows in the alps for several farmers and will milk the cows and make the cheese. If there is closer access the milk may be brought down by truck to the valley to be sold as milk, cream, or yogurt. Both beef and milk cows go up into the alps but they are held in different pastures.

Then in the fall there is a festival and the farmer goes up into the alps and with the herders and brings the cows back down into the valley for the winter. This year hopefully we will be able to go to the festival when the cows come down from the alps, but this is very dependent on weather and this fall we will be super busy.