Rare variety

Where organic grain sprouts even in winter

"Tauern rye is the most resilient grain variety in Europe," says Löcker.

(Bild: Holitzky Roland)

Long forgotten and rarely cultivated, the Lungau Tauern rye variety is making a comeback in the fields thanks to Peter Löcker.

Peter Löcker's grain fields in St. Margarethen are already green, while the snow still has at least the top of the Katschberg in its grip. There, the Tauern rye has already fought its way ten centimetres out of the ground despite the cool temperatures. It only grows here in Lungau and is perfectly adapted to the harsh conditions at 1000 meters above sea level.

(Bild: Holitzky Roland)

It is thanks to the 62-year-old organic farmer and his association "Lungauer Arche" that this old grain variety still exists at all. At the beginning of the 1990s, Löcker collected a 50-kilo sack of rye grains from a farmer and sowed it. While he was the only one in the district at the time, 15 others are now growing the grain again.

At the height of the fifties, however, there were over 200 and Tauern rye was a common type of grain. When the first combine harvesters came along, they couldn't cope with the two-meter-long stalks. "And in agriculture, it became more important to achieve the highest possible yield," explains Löcker. The Lungau Tauern rye disappeared from the fields and was increasingly forgotten.

(Bild: Holitzky Roland)

The advantages of old varieties are being rediscovered
Now farmers like Löcker are rediscovering the advantages: "Tauern rye has been bred for this region and is the most resistant grain variety in Europe," says the proud organic farmer. Weather changes don't bother the rye much, only hail or heavy rain cannot be tolerated. Only after five years does it need to be rotated in the field. The rye seeds are sown on five hectares at the end of September.

Elisabeth Löcker processes the harvest from the field at the "Sauschneider" organic farm in St. Margarethen into organic pasta, bread and flour.

(Bild: Holitzky Roland)

The grain grows a few centimetres over the autumn and winter, shoots up after the ice saints in May and grows two meters above the Löckers' heads: "In spring, it's five centimetres a day. We can already mow at the end of July," explains Löcker. The grains are turned into flour in the mill at the Sauschneider organic farm, while Elisabeth Löcker (60) bakes bread and makes pasta, which can be bought in the farm store.

All organic, of course. For Löcker, the 50 kilogram bag of grains was the start of a success story. He hopes that other Lungau farmers will do the same and that awareness of tried and tested products will increase again.