Dairywoman: “Life on the Alpine Pasture Is Hard Work”

For Barbara Sinn, the smell of stables and sour milk means one thing: summer on the alpine pasture in East Tyrol. For 23 years, she has returned to the Lasnitzenalm in Prägraten am Großvenediger, where she spends two and a half months each summer with her 24-year-old daughter, Vroni.

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Life on the alpine pasture is hard work.

Sinn’s day begins at 5:30 a.m., which she considers late for life on an alpine pasture. “But we can organize the work here ourselves,” she says. Together, mother and daughter look after 25 cows belonging to 13 farmers.

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But we can organize the work here ourselves.

Sinn jokingly describes the cows’ stay as a well-earned wellness holiday. “When the cows come up to us from down below, they are often a little confused. After the summer with us, they return to their stalls truly rested and relaxed.”

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When the cows come up to us from down below, they are often a little confused. After the summer with us, they return to their stalls truly rested and relaxed.