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MARSHALL -- Even though Austria and the Midwestern United States are half a world apart, rural residents have many similar experiences.

Verena Winiwarter, a professor at the University of Vienna's Institute for Anthropology, spoke Tuesday afternoon at Southwest State University about environmental history in the Austrian countryside.

She pointed to more than 600 years of natural history in Austria. It has included strategically planned agriculture, preservation of mountain areas and management of the Danube River.

She said organizers of Cistercian monasteries in Austria focused on profitable land use as early as the 12th century. They usually based their decisions about land-related enterprises such as crops, livestock and fish ponds on the local landscape.

"The ecosystem is an important part of land use history, along with changes in population and production," Winiwarter said. "Much of land use is based on the soil. Water is needed to make it work."

She said historical land use trends in Austria include examples of attempts to farm land that was later turned back to forests. In other cases, some field patterns created in the Middle Ages are basically the same as what exists today.

"Small scale diversity is still visible in the countryside," she said.

"Migrations into cities and towns have been gradual. It hasn't been a massive migration like what was seen in Ireland."

She said vineyards in Austria became more commercialized in the early 20th century, and that in some ways other parts of Austrian agriculture have followed along the same path.

Austrian farmers have taken an interest in nutrient management to preserve nutrients in the soil and improve crop yields. They've also made additional use of land through planned drainage.

"The agricultural revenue has been dwindling, like everywhere else," she said. "Farmers have looked for new marketing niches and new strategies. Some have switched to part-time farming along with another job."

She said part of that process has been based on sustainable (low cost, environmentally-friendly) agriculture.

Austria has one of the highest ratios of organic farmers in the world (close to 10 percent of the total), who work toward price premiums in return for chemical-free farm practices.

In terms of water quality protection, Winiwarter said the upper stretch of the Danube River in Austria has been much more successfully preserved than lower river sections near the Black Sea. She added that she's willing to directly drink water from the river in Austria.

She said rural areas of Austria often face questions of how to balance agriculture, energy needs, tourism and preservation of natural and historic resources.

"Development often involves a cost," she said. "It might come at the expense of landscapes. There's a point when it's questionable to experiment with a limited resource such as the land."

She said this week's trip to Marshall was her first visit to the Midwestern United States. She added that she's enjoyed seeing many of the same advantages as what's found in rural Austria, and many of the same questions for the future.

"The main difference for me is the vast horizons instead of the mountain areas," Winiwarter said. "I've seen many good similarities as far as land use and the people. In many ways, this area looks like home."

Geoff Cunfer, an SSU geography and rural studies professor, has worked with Winiwarter through Environmental History Society activities for the past several years.

He said this week's visit to SSU allowed staff, students and other interested local residents to hear about rural experiences in another part of the world.

"We knew she would bring interesting ideas, ones that tie in with life in southwestern Minnesota," Cunfer said. "It's an example of how different rural areas have similar concerns."

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