Except for the missing Alps, the Southern Eifel looks almost like the Allgäu: pastures and milk production everywhere. This hilly terrain requires special skills to optimise the cultivation of this grassland, which is an important prerequisite for successful milk production. Alfons Göbel, farmer, Chairman of the Grassland and Fodder Production Committee of the Chamber of Agriculture Rhineland-Palatinate as well as member of the corresponding DLG technical committee, is an expert for this.

Two well-cared for tractors are standing on the left in the farmyard: a 2014 Fendt 512 Vario, which is rented for training, and his own 2012 Fendt 724 Vario. The quiet breathing of the cattle can be heard from the opposite stall and every so often also some loud mooing. The building is connected directly to the house; in front is a paddock for the young cattle. The family-run farming business also has 75 ha of arable land and grassland, which lie on the outskirts of the municipality of Ehlenz in the southern Eifel. This property has been used for farming for more than 100 years. First just part-time, since the founder, Theodor Gilen, was a teacher in the village school from 1895 to 1935. He had four cows and two pigs for his own family’s use. After all, he raised 15 children. “My father then expanded the farm to 25 dairy cows,” says Alfons Göbel, explaining the history of his grandparents’ and parents’ farm. The accurate looking middle age man explains that he now has 40 dairy cows and their offspring. He does not want to increase the number just now, since the successor for the farm is not yet clear at this point in time. What Alfons Göbel is constantly developing further is his knowledge and experience in grassland management.

Alfons Göbel learned farming from the bottom up. As the youngest of six children, he helped his father in the stable and in the field at an early age. “It was a lot of fun. But I actually wanted to study mechanical engineering,” he says. But that didn’t turn out. His childhood experiences form a good foundation for his agricultural training, the vocational school, the examination for the master craftsman’s certificate, and finally his studies for business administration, where he specialised in the area of grassland improvement and management.

The annual 900 machines hours of the Fendt 724 Vario are not only spent on his own land. A third of the hours he provides grassland maintenance services to his colleagues: stock-taking, hauling, grooming, sowing and rolling. Each year he visits 40 to 50 farms, from Saarbrücken to Aachen and from Bad Kreuznach to Luxembourg. Often he has to stay overnight. “I always have a suitcase in the tractor for this,” he says. In any case, he likes driving the Fendt 724 Vario in the ProfiPlus equipment version. “I’m looking forward to working with this machine, because it offers so many options and everything works with the precision of a Swiss clockwork,” he says proudly and admits that he has already read through the operating manual six times. Not because it so complicated. No, Alfons Göbel wants to exploit everything the Fendt is capable of. He has been a loyal Fendt customer for decades already. The well cared for 1984 Fendt 309 LSA and a 1966 Farmer 2D standing in his machine shed are proof for this. “It was a giant leap switching from my 1997 Fendt Favorit 512C to a Fendt 724 Vario; it actually has twice the power. I am fully satisfied. It was the right decision,” he sums up and explains why:

Ten years ago, Alfons Göbel began making farmers in the southern Eifel aware of the need for good grassland management. As a result many farms have clearly improved both quality and quantity and have become more profitable. The use of Fendt tractors made it possible for Alfons Göbel to extend his circuits. The profitability and, not least, the comfort of the Fendt 724 Vario help the popular grassland expert to meet the expectations and demands placed on him.