Italy: Temporary Farmhands | European Journal

Making hay on steep slopes is backbreaking work. But volunteer harvest workers are doing it -- to help out mountain farmers in South Tyrol who are in trouble through no fault of their own.A fall through a hay chute or a fire in the livestock stalls can injure a farmer so badly that he can no longer work. Injured farmers are supported by an association in the city of Bozen that has sends helpers, mostly Germans, to meanwhile farms where they're needed. The working day is long and they don't get Sundays off. In the extremely steep slope areas, everything must be done by hand.