In front of you are images on four panels that you can rotate. At this station we will talk about the transformations in agriculture.

Mainly from the 1950s onwards in agriculture, the “old” techniques were replaced by “modern” ones. For quite some time, old and new farming technologies existed alongside one another, as you can see in these photographs.

In farming, the use of machines grew, replacing animal-drawn equipment. In 1950, about 19,000 tractors were in use in Austria. Twenty years later, there were around a quarter of a million.

Although the total number of agricultural businesses decreased, they grew in size. At the same time, less people were needed to work in agriculture.

The goal of industrialized agriculture is to get nature to provide the greatest yield possible, often overlooking the harm it causes while doing so.

Research on plant growth rapidly rose, new methods for cultivation emerged that made the plants more resilient and increased their yield.

The use of artificial fertilizer and pesticides became common. The ecosystems in many rural areas fundamentally changed—the creeks, rivers and the groundwater.

Agriculture is extremely important—also politically—because it concerns providing people with food. At the same time, agriculture makes one of the most substantial contributions to “caring” for and maintaining the land. The “beautiful landscape” gives many Austrians a sense of national pride. To a great extent, agriculture is responsible for shaping the landscape so that it is appealing for tourists. Therefore, agriculture is faced with negotiating both the industrial conditions of food production and landscape conservation.

Agriculture is responsible for around ten per cent of the country’s greenhouse gas emissions, which substantially contribute to climate change. One of these gasses is CO2, carbon dioxide.

However, agriculture is not the only field that placed high productivity as its top priority. The global increase in the use of machines for production in many areas has resulted in higher and higher carbon dioxide emissions. Globally, each year between 1950 and 2018, CO2 emissions have increased almost six-fold.

In the 1950s and 1960s, hardly anyone thought twice about the transformations that were taking place. Most people viewed them as positive, and saw them as progress. The economic upturn following the Second World War brought in a new standard of living, new opportunities for consumers, and greater mobility.