The Agricultural Research and Education Centre (AREC) Raumberg-Gumpenstein is the largest subordinate department of the Federal Ministry for Agriculture, Forestry, Regions and Water Management with around 300 employees. It is located in the centre of the Austrian mountain region, where over 98% of all agricultural land is grassland, and it is the largest Austrian research station for alpine agriculture.

Research activities are focused on the grassland ecosystem as part of a regional and cycle-based farming system. The AREC is divided into four institutes with branch sites in other climatic regions and production areas of Austria:

  1. The Institute of Crop Production and Cultural Landscape Research is working on scientific studies relating to plant production, particularly grassland farming, in combination with cultivated landscape and rural area issues.
  2. Systematic research on all questions of grassland management
  3. Applied research in laboratory and field experiments as well as field and case studies, including living labs
  4. Interdisciplinary studies on the topic of nutrient balance, including the recording of material flows
  5. Development and application of technologies and methods for digitalisation in agriculture
  6. Research on the impact of climate change on the grassland ecosystem
  7. Addressing issues relating to forage harvesting and conservation
  8. Research on soil, ecological and botanical issues
  9. Breeding of grasses and legumes for the production of high-quality seed mixtures for grassland
  10. Design, adaptation and evaluation of the Austrian Environmental Programme
  11. Scientific processing of questions relating to the quality assessment of fodder
  • The Institute of Livestock Research is responsible for various stables for cattle, sheep, and goats, which are at its disposal as research resources in addition to the necessary forage and grazing areas. The livestock comprises around 180 head of cattle (including almost 70 dairy cows of the Holstein Friesian, Simmental and Brown Swiss breeds) and around 200 sheep and goats. Husbandry trials are carried out in the research fields of animal nutrition, alternative cattle husbandry, herd management and sheep and goat husbandry.
  • Research on questions of production technology in livestock farming
  • Research on animal nutrition and nutritional physiology
  • Research on production alternatives to safeguard farms and preserve the cultural landscape
  • Effects of livestock farming on the nutrient balance and climate impact of farms
  • Development of key production data as a basis for economic and environmental calculations for the cattle, sheep and goat production chain (production efficiency, milk and meat production)
  • Factors influencing the quality of farm animal products
  • The Institute for Animals, Technology and Environment deals with a wide range of topics in the field of livestock farming, mainly in monogastric animals (pigs, poultry, horses). A research stable for fattening pigs (for around 400 animals) and a flexibly usable stable building for poultry farming (fattening, egg production) and a manure testing laboratory that is unique in Europe are available for this purpose.
  • The Institute of Organic Farming and Livestock Biodiversity researches organic grassland and livestock farming, arable farming, pig farming and animal health.

The AREC Raumberg-Gumpenstein was founded in 1947 and has been a central point of contact for agricultural research, training and consulting in Austria since then. In 2004, the research centre was merged with a secondary agrarian school, attended by over 400 students from all over Austria, thus creating the basis for transfering current research directly to education.

For decades, research at Raumberg-Gumpenstein has focussed on current problems and seeks to find contemporary answers for agricultural practice in various research projects. With application-orientated research, building an extensive network of farm practice and consulting services has been possible for many years. Raumberg-Gumpenstein is often a primary point of contact for farmers in solving individual problems and a platform for many excursions, workshops, and conferences. There is also extensive and long-established cooperation with many international research partners.