Chamber of Agriculture Austria

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Rearing farm on the Ossiacher Tauern

The Chambers of Agriculture ( LK ) are the legal representatives of farmers and foresters in Austria . Since, according to the Austrian Federal Constitution, responsibility for the chambers of agriculture falls within the competence of the individual federal states, there are independent chambers of agriculture in the individual federal states, each of which is structured differently in each country.

At the federal level there is an umbrella organization, the President's Conference of the Austrian Chambers of Agriculture . The President's Conference is organized as an association under private law and has no right of intervention against the chambers at state level. In the external presentation, the regional chambers and the presidential conference appear as the Austrian Chamber of Agriculture .

Together with the Chamber of Commerce, the Chamber of Labor and the Federation of Trade Unions, the chambers of agriculture are part of the social partnership that was set up after the end of the Second World War .

Josef Moosbrugger has been President of the President's Conference of the Austrian Chambers of Agriculture since May 15, 2018 , and has also been President of the Vorarlberg Chamber of Agriculture since 1999 .

Members

Membership in the chambers of agriculture is regulated by state law. Members of the chambers of agriculture are usually:

  • The owners of land used for agriculture and forestry
  • Agricultural and forestry operator
  • Family members if they work full-time in these companies
  • Agricultural and forestry trade and business cooperatives and their executives

Membership is compulsory , similar to the other chambers. The chamber members have the right to vote within the chamber, where elections of individual members are provided. Above all, this is the election to the General Assembly, which takes place every five years.

organization

The organization of the chambers of agriculture is regulated by state law.

Every country has a national organization headed by a president. Within the state chamber, the plenary assembly is the highest body and, depending on the state, consists of between 19 and 36 state chamber councilors, which are elected by the members. The state chamber councils usually belong to a political party or a sub-organization.

Depending on the federal state, there are also individual representative bodies in the individual districts (e.g. district chamber of farmers) and at community level (e.g. local farmers' associations).

There are also committees for the individual subject areas. The following committees are currently (2014) set up:

  • Education and advice
  • Energy and climate
  • Forestry and timber industry
  • Dairy farming
  • Plant production
  • Legal, tax and social policy
  • Special Crops Committee
  • Animal Production Committee
  • Wine Industry Committee

In addition, there is a close connection with various associations that deal with agriculture and forestry.

history

Following the models in France, England and Germany, agricultural societies were founded in the second half of the 19th century , which were replaced by agricultural societies. In Styria this happened as early as 1819, in Tyrol and Vorarlberg in 1838 and in 1845 and 1848 in Upper Austria and Salzburg. Their task was primarily the promotion of state culture, while the professional representation took place only to a limited extent.

Only after the basic relief and the dissolution of the dependencies of the farmers in 1848 was an attempt to establish chambers of agriculture similar to the chambers of commerce and industry . The agricultural societies were dissolved and replaced by state culture councils on the basis of state laws. It was in Tyrol in 1881, Upper Austria in 1886, Lower Austria in 1905, Carinthia in 1910 and Vorarlberg in 1911. Only in Styria did the Agricultural Society survive.

The task of the newly created state culture councils was to support the economic interests of agriculture and the state culture in their care. The councils could not be elected by the farmers themselves, on the other hand they were not allowed to collect membership fees.

Only the First World War and the subsequent dissolution of the Austro-Hungarian monarchy brought a turning point. On February 22nd, 1922, the first Chamber of Agriculture was established in Lower Austria. In the other federal states, apart from Vienna, the foundations took place within the next ten years. Only in Vienna was the Chamber of Agriculture founded in 1957.

Through the Chamber of Agriculture system, the entire agriculture and forestry of a federal state was united for the first time and could be represented together. The primary election of the individual members as well as the pay-as-you-go system and the sub-organizations were introduced.

From 1923, the individual regional chambers jointly formed the presidential conference of the agricultural corporations in Austria .

As a result of the Anschluss , the President's Conference was dissolved in 1938 and replaced by the Reichsnährstand .

After the Second World War , the chambers of agriculture were reactivated according to the legal situation of March 5, 1934. Despite the four zones of occupation, the President's Conference was re-established on January 10, 1946, and on March 28, 1953, it was given its own legal personality.

In 1957 a Chamber of Agriculture was also founded in Vienna; thus there are chambers of agriculture in all federal states of Austria.

President

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Entered in the register of associations under ZVR number 729518421
  2. ↑ a b c orf.at: Moosbrugger becomes Austrian LK President . Article dated February 5, 2018, accessed February 6, 2018.
  3. ↑ a b LK Austria: Josef Moosbrugger takes over office from Hermann Schultes . OTS notification dated May 15, 2018, accessed May 15, 2018.
  4. ↑ a b c LK Austria: transfer of office from Gerhard Wlodkowski to Hermann Schultes . OTS notification dated February 27, 2014, accessed February 6, 2018.