Despite small farm sizes and often difficult working conditions due to Alpine topography, South Tyrol's agricultural sector compares favourably with the rest of Europe. This is also thanks to the South Tyrolean Farmers' Association, the South Tyrolean Young Farmers' Association, the South Tyrolean Women's Farmer Association and the Senior Organisation in the South Tyrolean Farmers' Association.
The South Tyrolean Farmers' Association is a lobbyist and service provider in one. With over 20,000 members, the South Tyrolean Farmers' Association is the largest business association in South Tyrol.
Its task is to strengthen the farming families and farms in economic, social, cultural and political terms and to represent the members’ interests when in exchange with authorities, social partners, politics and economic organisations.
The main principles guiding the association's work are:
The ultimate aim is to creating the framework in which the livelihood of farming families is guaranteed.
The South Tyrolean Farmers' Association, the South Tyrolean Young Farmers' Association, the South Tyrolean Women's Farmer Association and the Senior Organisation in the South Tyrolean Farmers' Association represent the interests of farms and people in rural areas. The representation of interests takes place at local, district and regional level as well as at national and EU level. Almost 1,200 functionaries are actively representing the agricultural sector.
The main focus is on building and maintaining networks. The South Tyrolean Farmers' Association cooperates with a wide range of political, economic and social organisations as well as educational and research institutions in South Tyrol, the rest of Italy and abroad.
Closely linked to the South Tyrolean Farmers' Association are the Farmers' Emergency Fund, the Association of Voluntary Work and the South Tyrolean Gardeners' Association.
In addition to representing the interests of farmers, the South Tyrolean Farmers' Association is the most important service provider for its members. More than 300 employees are working at the headquarters in Bozen and in the district offices in Schlanders, Meran, Bozen, Neumarkt, Brixen, Sterzing und Bruneck.
Members are advised and accompanied by the SBB in the areas of taxes, law, business management, employment, subsidies, marketing, social affairs, energy and innovation. In addition, the continuing education cooperative offers a comprehensive continuing education programme.