Bethel - Dream job at the Bethel sheep farm in Freistatt

A fluffy but imposing white "lump" peers attentively through the pasture fence. Who is approaching his territory? All-clear: it's not intruders, but shepherd Klaus Menke and apprentice Milena Gerken, who are trudging through the tall grass in the Freistätter Moor on this sunny morning. The livestock guarding dog wags its tail happily.

Milena Gerken greets the strong Pyrenean mountain dog with a long petting session. Goat Fritz comes over curiously and nudges the young woman. The sheep look up briefly and then turn back to the grass. In the summer, Milena Gerken began her three-year training as an animal farmer specialising in sheep farming in Freistatt. "I had already tried out an apprenticeship and a degree course beforehand, but quickly realised that it wasn't for me," says the 24-year-old. "We've had a few enquiries from school leavers who aren't just looking for a job, but for a way of life," reports her trainer Klaus Menke.

Milena Gerken is a real stroke of luck for the Freistatt sheep farm, emphasises the shepherd. Also because she already has previous experience. Her family has been running a hobby sheep farm for ten years. "It makes a big difference whether you do it in your free time or as a job," she says. Her parents have 80 sheep. The Bethel sheep farm looks after 1,400 moorland sheep and 100 goats in Freistatt. The animals are used for nature and landscape conservation on a total of 1,400 hectares of grassland and moorland. They eat grasses, heather and shrubs.

Training to become an animal farmer is varied: the course content ranges from plant science, animal husbandry and feeding to anatomy and animal health. The theory lessons take place in blocks at the Saxony-Anhalt State Institute for Agriculture and Horticulture. Milena Gerken's training programme includes 17 students from almost all over Germany. "That's not exactly a lot. Even though there is a general interest in the profession, we have a considerable shortage of young people," says the Bethel shepherd.

Whether it's raining, hot or cold, the shepherds look after their flocks in all weathers. "The hot summers are particularly physically demanding," says Klaus Menke. There is no time off in the heat. Even at 40 degrees, the animals have to be looked after, pasture fences erected and water provided. But there are also strenuous phases in winter with the shearing and lambing season. Milena Gerken is excited. "I've only experienced this on a small scale so far, but it's a whole different ball game when up to 80 sheep a day get their lambs on peak days," says the apprentice.