Division 3.8 Traditional character of the agricultural product or foodstuff

Haymilk production and processing is as old as the tradition of dairy farming (dating back to around the 5th century BCE). In the Middle Ages, in the foothills of the Alps and the Tyrolean mountains, cheese was already being produced from haymilk on ‘Schwaighöfen’ (small-scale Alpine dairy farms). The word ‘Schwaig’ comes from Middle High German and denotes a special form of settlement and, in particular, farming in the Alpine region. ‘Schwaighof’ farms were often established as permanent settlements by land-owners and their cattle stock was primarily used for dairy farming (particularly for cheese production). They have existed in the Tyrol and Salzburg since the twelfth century. In the mountainous areas, haymilk was originally linked to the production of hard cheese from raw milk. As early as around 1900, laws (milk regulations) were already passed regarding silage-free milk suitable for the production of hard cheese. In Austria, such laws formed the basis of the ‘Milchregulative’ (milk regulations) of the provinces of Vorarlberg, the Tyrol and Salzburg around 1950. In 1975 these ‘Milchregulative’ were streamlined and defined as the prerequisites for milk suitable for the production of hard cheese by the Austrian dairy farming body (see: ‘Bestimmungen über die Übernahme von hartkäsetauglicher Milch’ (rules on milk suitable for producing hard cheese), Österreichische Milchwirtschaft Heft 14, Beilage 6 Nr. 23c, 21.7.1975). The former dairy farming authority in Austria regulated certain production areas known as ‘silage-free zones’ up until 1993, in order to preserve the raw material ‘haymilk’ (also known as ‘silage-free milk’ and ‘milk suitable for the production of hard cheese’) for cheese manufacturers reliant on raw milk. In 1995, the silage-free zone for haymilk was further protected by the Federal Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry, Water and Environment Management in its ‘non-use of silage measure’, contained in the ‘special guidelines to promote an environmentally friendly, extensive form of agriculture that protects natural living space’ (the Austrian programme for environmentally friendly agriculture, known as ‘ÖPUL’).

In alpine regions animals have always traditionally been fed according to the haymilk criteria. There are documents and certificates dating from 1544 charting alpine cheese production for the Wildschönauer Holzalm alpine pasture in the Tyrol.

Since the start of the 1980s, some haymilk farmers have also been farming according to organic/ecological criteria.