Amelie and Franziska Wetzlar
Innovator
Milchshafhof Pimpinelle
Germany
Environmental
Farming
Rural area close to city
The innovation journey
Amelie and Franziska Wetzlar run a dairy sheep farm with their own cheese-making and direct marketing in a small village near Berlin in Brandenburg in eastern Germany. Although neither of them has a farming background, they have long wanted to run their farm with dairy sheep and their processing facilities. They currently keep 60 dairy sheep of the very robust breed Krainer Steinschaf that originally come from Slovenia on 16 hectares of grassland, as well as rams and offspring,. In 2010, they bought a small farm, which they expanded in 2019 to include a sheep barn.
The innovation impact
The farm is managed by the two women according to the standards of organic farming. As livestock farmers, ecological understanding and species-appropriate husbandry are particularly important to them. The sheep spend most of the year grazing day and night. In addition, the lambs are reared with their mothers, which means the lambs receive milk from their mothers until they are old enough to eat themselves. They aim to keep transport routes as short as possible and to operate a circular system. In addition to their delicious cheese, yoghurt and quark, which are very popular in the region, they also market lamb, sausages and wool from their production. Their extensive grassland management has attracted storks back to the region. With their idea of setting up this business in a village of 80 people in a very rural area, they are considered pioneers in the region and encourage other women.