Peter Tillmann is a dairy farmer. He's been fighting improbable odds to find a partner willing to share a hard life on the farm. Is it even possible?
Category
🗞
NewsTranscript
00:00Peter Tillmann is a dairy farmer. He puts in seven days a week on the family farm.
00:13Every year thousands of Germany's farmers give up. The job simply doesn't pay anymore.
00:18As you get older and complete your training, you wonder, is this the right thing? Do I
00:25want to do this for the long haul? And then comes the challenge of finding a spouse willing
00:32to share this hard life. To marry or quit? What are the prospects available for dairy
00:40farmer Peter Tillmann?
00:56There's stress in the barn. A cow is about to give birth. But something's wrong.
01:05Peter, I hear you. Can you hear me? Yes, I hear you too. The calving assistant's up in the barn.
01:14Now things have to move fast. The calf is in a breech position in the womb.
01:19Peter and his father, Antonius Tillmann, have attended to lots of difficult births.
01:32When the calf comes out backwards, the umbilical cord might tear with the head and body still
01:36inside and the calf suffocates. This turned out fine. It's rare, but when it happens,
01:43it's important to act fast. Our cows mostly calf by themselves, thank goodness.
01:50Minutes after the birth, the cow and her newborn calf are doing well. They are two of some
01:56200 animals on the Tillmann farm in eastern Westphalia's Höxter district. At 90 hectares
02:02with around 120 dairy cows, and an annual turnover of about 600,000 euros, it's a typical
02:09family farm. During the good years, it makes about 100,000 euros in profit, most of which
02:16comes from EU and German state subsidies. Peter trained to be a farmer. He's the fifth
02:23generation of his family to work the land, and he hopes he won't be the last.
02:28If you think ahead, the goal is to hand the operation over to the next generation, so
02:34it's important to find a partner to have children with.
02:39He's been searching the area villages and on the internet, but so far, no luck. And
02:46little wonder, considering what a normal day on the farm is like.
02:53We started at 5.30 this morning, so we get the livestock fed on time. I don't know when
02:58we'll be quitting. Probably around 10 or 11. We can't say exactly right now.
03:05Not every work day is that long. They can only work outside in fair weather. Most of
03:10the money is made from milk. A little extra comes from growing wheat. Is it worth all
03:15the hard work? Peter and his father worked out that they average about 13 euros an hour
03:21net income. Would that be enough for a future farmer's wife?
03:28In 1970, Germany had over one million farmers. Since then, over three-fourths have hung up
03:33their overalls. Peter can understand that, especially after slaving away for days alone.
03:38As a boy, I helped out a lot. Back then, I knew I wanted to become a farmer. I always
03:45wanted to do what my father and grandfather had done before me. As you get older and complete
03:52your training, you wonder, is this the right thing? Do I want to do this for the long haul?
03:58All the while, the demands on farmers keep on growing. For instance, when animals have
04:03health problems. The cow's got milk fever. Yesterday, the cow had her fifth calf. A problem
04:11dairy cattle have is not producing enough calcium in the initial stages. Especially
04:16in older cows, that's a problem. And so we gave her a little calcium injection.
04:21This is a metabolic disorder. The cow doesn't have the strength to stand up. Her pulse is fading.
04:29The calcium has to go into a vein or an artery, and that's what I'm looking for.
04:37Without treatment, in the worst cases, milk fever can end in the animal's death. At one
04:43time, it was up to a veterinarian to treat it. Dairy farmers have been taking on more
04:47and more of their tasks. The same applies to the artificial insemination of cows to
04:53induce pregnancy. It's performed at this farm about 150 times a year.
05:01The sperm is deep frozen. We have to thaw it out here, so it can then take effect inside
05:07the cow.
05:09This also used to be done by a veterinarian, but that costs money, so now Peter's father
05:14takes on the task.
05:17I'm depositing the semen in a uterine horn. Right or left, it doesn't really matter.
05:24Everything has to be recorded. Every insemination, every birth of a calf, every medication administered
05:30has to be recorded.
05:32Everything has to be recorded. Every insemination, every birth of a calf, every medication administered
05:38and whether or not fertilizer has been applied.
05:42Applications for EU agricultural subsidies are several pages long. Multiple copies of
05:47reports on environmental and animal welfare standards go to local, federal and EU authorities.
05:53So the cow insemination went fine. Shall we put that down?
05:57They spend about one hour on paperwork every day. German farmers have been complaining
06:03about the red tape for years. It leaves them less time to work with the livestock, which
06:09is what gives Peter Tillmann so much satisfaction. When, for instance, he shows a calf how to
06:15suckle.
06:17Above all, nature means the fittest survive. That means some of the animals don't make
06:23it because, for instance, they don't find the teats right away and they die. But since
06:28we're keeping an eye out, we give them all the opportunity to learn it.
06:38The newborn calf is one example. It's somewhat less satisfying, but just as important to
06:45clean out the barn.
06:48Our cows get fed in the morning and have enough food for 24 hours. Before we put it out, we
06:56give the feeding table a good sweep to make sure it's thoroughly clean. We clear the
07:01remaining fodder away to make room for the fresh feed.
07:06A cow gives around 30 litres of milk per day, so the farm produces 3,000 to 3,500 litres
07:12of milk daily.
07:13The robot milks the cow.