Local Matters is on tour - this week in Rollingen. Rollingen is a suburb of Mersch, a village at the southern edge of the commune. Usually, there is not a lot happening in Rollingen. Lately though, one actor of the village has become quite famous – winning several awards and getting quite some journalists to write articles about them: This rising star of Rollingen is the Kass-Haff. A farm.
The Kass-Haff used to be a normal farm – with cows, pigs, goats and chickens. Nowadays, it is still a farm with cows, pigs, goats and chickens – but it is open to everyone, it’s pedagogical – and has a vision that goes beyond the fence, a vision for society.
The Kass-Haff has been part of Rollingen for centuries. And for several generations, it has been in the Kass family. Tom Kass took it over from his parents. His dad took it over from his parents. The Kass-Haff is one of the few farms that is still family hands. Many farms struggle to keep their heritage going – as the young generation doesn’t want to continue the family business. Being a farmer means getting up early, working long days and weekends, taking over much responsibility, and getting little reward and recognition and small wages. Tom Kass hesitated as well – for him the main fear was loneliness. The isolation that farmers face made him hesitate. In the end, Tom Kass did take the farm over – but he changed everything – went from conventional to bio-dynamic farming, and even moved the main part of the farm from the middle of the village to the entrance – to have more space – and he got people there.
Tom Kass shows me around the new Kass-Haff. It’s a sunny winter afternoon, and kids are playing next to a small pond in the middle of the farm. Tom Kass now has company. The Kass-Haff is always open for visitors. Children spend their afternoons here, greeting the animals and playing. There is even a kindergarten on the site.
Tom Hass shows kids around the farm - around 350 groups per year. They get to know all the parts. Usually, starting with the goats. They are smaller than the cows but nevertheless the children learn: goats aren’t pets. Then the kids get to know the pigs and the cows. Recently, the labour ministry has recently recognized the merits of the Kass Haff – it has received the status of a company with social impact. The label recognizes that the Kass Haff is positively contributing to society. – sometimes this happens despite losses in revenue. Tom Kass takes bio-dynamic farming seriously. The Kass-Haff is one of the few farms in Luxembourg where the cows keep their horns and the calves aren’t separated from their mothers. This impacts the productivity – because the cows wouldn’t make new calves as fast – and hence produce less milk. Plus, the calves drink a lot of it.
With all these visitors, and the pedagogical mission, Tom Kass has transformed farming into something social. An easier solution to fight the loneliness would probably have been to just move to the town while taking care of the animals only when they need care. For Tom Kass, this was out of question though.
What else is happening in Rollingen? That’s what we are going to explore tomorrow. Tune in for this week’s second part of Local Matters On tour.