Humans, animals and nature – our concept is naturalistic

The Heimatsmühle is centred upon an overall concept that’s in harmony with nature. In addition to our mill, we have a farm that abides by species-appropriate animal husbandry. Our Charolais cattle graze all year long on the pasture, except for in the winter months from December to April, and are able to roam freely and enjoy life there. The winter months they spend inside in our modern and spacious stables without being tied-up.

We also keep country hogs living a stress-free life in our pigsty and their free-range area. We market our agricultural animal products ourselves. Please feel free to contact us if you are interested in knowing more!

Ernst Herrmann, our master craftsman in agriculture

Ernst Herrmann has been committed to lovingly looking after our animals for over 30 years.

‘We are especially proud to have been awarded organic certification as well as the Bioland organic seal’, says Herrmann. ‘This accomplishment reflects our philosophy of sustainability.’

Eco-monitoring institution: DE-ÖKO-006

Heimatsmühle Charolais cattle

Our cattle keep their horns

Straw is regularly laid down in the spacious litter-bedded barn (built in 2012) so that the cows have a soft bed to lay on and their hooves and joints are protected. The barn height of seven metres ensures there’s always plenty of fresh air. Our herd has approx. 50 sucking cows and three bulls. After mating naturally, approx. 45 calves are born every spring. Our calves are kept with their mothers for suckling for at least seven months. Afterward, they are fed fresh grass, hay, bran (milling by-product), and home-made silage just like all the other cows. The welfare of our animals is very important to us: that’s why we pay attention to their social behaviour. Horns are important for cows. They use them to communicate and establish a herd ranking. So, we made the conscious decision not to remove them.

Heimatsmühle pigs

Our pigs aren’t stripped of their curly tails.

Our new pigsty (2014) isn’t only spacious but it also has a free-range area to keep our pigs happy and stop them from becoming aggressive. That’s why we don’t have to dock our pigs’ curly tails. We regularly put straw bedding down here – of course, to encourage the animals’ natural desire to play.

At 8 to 12 weeks of age, the piglets are delivered to our farm, where they get to eat bran, self-grown field beans, and silage made out of clover and grass.

Heimatsmühle agriculture

We farm approx. 85 hectares of land, ideally nestled between undulating hills. Ten hectares of land are reserved for growing our own grains and forage crops.

The remaining 75 hectares are used as valuable grazing and pasture land for our Charolais cattle as well as woodland.