Hello dear Hivers!
This is my 1st time to post in this community and I am sharing the farmland near my home in Vienna. We live on the outskirts of the city and our apartment complex is about 1.5 Km to the Donau-Auen National Park. The Park has huge untouched forest and untouched lowland that have water steamlets going to the Slovakian border.
Just an Observation
I always love to see straw bales in the fields as much as I want to see lush green colors in the surroundings. This area had been so lush in Spring until the wheat harvest about a week ago. The fields were so green and so pleasing for the eyes. We pass in the middle of these green fields everytime we go for a walk or bike at the National Park. The crops varied yearly, last year, the farmers planted parsley, row and row of parsley. This year, they had various kinds of wheat and one can see the variations in colors of the field landscape.
Now it is July and the wheat have been harvested and the remaining straw bales were also done which are ready for transport.
Luckily, we live just a few meters from these straw bales and we can see what is happening on the fields especially when they are being transported by the huge trucks to the farmers ´ warehouses. As far as I know, this whole area is owned by the Municipality of the 22nd District of Vienna. The area might be converted into buildings, houses or flats because the 22nd District called Donaustadt is the biggest among 23 Viennese districts, area wise.
The image of this green area was taken about 8 weeks ago when I went for a walk to the National Park. The Park is about 1.5 Km from our flat. A recreational area where one can go biking, jog or walk the dog here.
Once the balers are attached to the tractors, the pile of straw in the above image will then be gathered automatically by the balers and turned into either round or rectangular in shape.
Working for a Multinational Company
I used to work for a Viennese multinational company that sold agricultural tractors, harvesters and heavy equipments which included such names as John Deere, New Holland , JCB, Case IH, Steyr and a few more. All parts such as the tillers, cotton pickers, balers were sold extra. Clients were from Turkmenistan, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Russia, Ukraine. Since these countries have huge farmlands, most of these tractors were equipped with GPS. Every tractor´s name were identified with the motor number.
The straw needs to be gathered and once that is done, the farmers will til the soil to combine the remaining straw into the earth. They would have to use tillage equipment to do the job. Below is a long road to the National Park with fields already harvested.
With the use of modern farming equipment, the farmers have an easy life in this digital world. Some tractors are equipped with computers. They can finish the job, like for instance tilling the soil for the whole area in a day compared to the methods used in the old days.
Adding to that, European farmers receive subsidies from the EU. I am not sure whether it pays to be a farmer. In some years, these fields might be converted into apartment complexes and the green fields might disappear. It will be a shame when that happens because the flora and fauna will also lose their habitat.