The tradition of leading the cow to the seats is soon a thing of the past. When Dagros and budeia disappear from the setra, we lose important knowledge and significant parts of our national cultural heritage. But we also lose resources and the potential for future growth and value creation. And we lose the very best food. The rationalization in agriculture probably explains some of the decline. For others, it is travel and construction activity that threaten the seat tradition. How are we going to get the farmers back to the setra? Life at the setra has been a mirror to life at home on the farm. When the resource base has been scarce at home, the grazing area in the forest and on the mountain has ensured a nutritious supplement for our livestock. This has resulted in good milk and resource utilization. Grazing animals have also contributed to a species-rich cultural landscape in the mountains and in the forest. Without animals to graze – and with a pressing tourism industry – species diversity and the cultural landscape disappear. The seat tradition is an ancient form of culture and business with roots going back to the Bronze Age. In the middle of the 19th century, there were over 100,000 centers in operation in Norway. It has come a long way since then. Downward. Farming and goats on the Skallerås setra in 1957. Photo: NTB Agricultural policy is probably partly to blame, because the goal has long been fewer producers and larger utility units. As a result, the need for open field grazing has decreased over the years. And with fewer dairy farmers at home in the village, the number of farm owners in the mountains has also decreased considerably. Politicians tend to have ideas about what would be best for agriculture. It does not mean that the farmers, researchers and advisers agree with the people elected. Because while the Storting pushes farmers into risky investments and adopts reforms that throw farmers into a brutal and global competitive market, there are forces in agriculture that now believe that development should go in a different direction. The crisis with the climate is part of the reason for this turn. Climate challenges have come closer to us in recent years, through drought and drought. We must therefore adapt, so that we can face the future with less pollution and lower emissions. This also applies to agriculture, which contributes to significant emissions through methane emissions from ruminants. Conversely, pasture with a well-developed root system will retain the carbon in the soil well. Farming based on local grazing resources, not least in open fields, is therefore an answer to some of the climate challenges. Grazing also contributes to higher biological diversity. Food produced by grazing animals on nutritious open pastures also has documented health effects. It makes Norway a more interesting food nation. Food is often produced at the setra; butter, sour cream and cheese, which ran away with first prizes in the major food competitions. Food produced at setra is so important for the reputation of Norwegian food. Living barnyard landscape with goats. Herdalssetra in Norddal, Møre and Romsdal. Photo: Norsk Seterkultur The animal welfare benefits also follow from the seat operation. A cow on pasture is a happier cow. But what kind of place does seat use actually have in politics, and what is the government’s message to those who want to run small and good? Because “big” is not always “beautiful”, and more and more people are pointing to what kind of values are lost when food production in the mountains disappears, or the jaws of excavators turn upside down on old cultivated land. For example, the researchers at NIBIO have pointed to the consequences of more and more grazing land being built down, and in many cases they have encouraged local politicians to place cottage fields in other areas than on the old seat embankments. Do the politicians listen to the researchers? The experts in the Norwegian Directorate of Agriculture would also like to see the dairy farmers return to the pastures and use the unused grazing areas. In 2023, the directorate explained why the seat subsidy could be an important motivation for farmers to continue milk production and seat operation, and they urged the Storting to double the subsidy. We are still waiting for a doubling. It’s not completely black. More and more young farmers see the possibilities of using the resources on the farm in a different and better way, and despite the fact that many municipalities still welcome the reduction of pasture land, not everyone sells the heirloom for short-term profit. Because sedentary life calls for values that cannot easily be exchanged for money: memory, identity and culture. At the same time as many farmers are closing the barn door for good, strong forces are working to promote the saddle farm as part of the world’s cultural heritage. It can give recognition and encouragement if the Norwegian-Swedish application for the seat culture passes the needle association and is entered on the prestigious Unesco lists. In that case, it would have been a great achievement. It is not just the future of agriculture that is now at stake. Important cultural heritage is also in the process of disappearing. Therefore, the international community is now in the process of giving Norway an important task – to secure the diverse seater culture for the future. Ysting has long received attention as “cultural heritage at the setra”, but life at the setra holds so much more. The allure, the music and the stories also belong here. At the setra, we meet the language and the name and the knowledge about the weather, animals and natural phenomena. Setra contains a universe of social and cultural customs, and although many museums make a great effort to convey the Norwegian seder culture, it is at the active seders – in the mountains and in the countryside – that we encounter the complex, diverse and living seder culture. As a nation – and as a society – we have a duty to look after the Norwegian cultural heritage. And right now it’s on fire for the seat culture. Therefore, we must cooperate even better; the politicians, the farmers, the museums and organizational life, so that the farmers join in a change. And find your way back to the seats.
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A future for setra – Statement
