“We are making every effort to support women in careers where they have been underrepresented”

Renate, please introduce yourself!

I was born on a farm close to Linz (Austria) in a village called Hörsching. We had cattle breeding with dairy cows, pig breeding and fattening, some chickens, rabbits, cats – somehow we had the farm life most common people would imagine – but that was thirty years ago.

Agriculture is and has always been the center of my life. After secondary modern school I attended a higher educational institute for Agriculture where I did my A level exams. The next step was the graduation from Teacher Training College for Agriculture. Before starting my working career I spent one year as an au-pair in Philadelphia. After my return to Austria I started working as a teacher at an agricultural and home economics school. However, since I enjoyed living in the United States, I spent another year in the States and worked for a health insurance company. Returning after an exciting work experience in the States, I continued teaching part time and started to study business management in Linz.

And that’s when you found Pöttinger.

In 2004, I wrote my thesis at Pöttinger in the purchasing department. I liked to work at Pöttinger, so I quit teaching and started to work for Mr. Heinz Pöttinger as executive assistant. After his retirement my task area has changed and since 2018 I have been the head of IT Sales Logistics.

What's the link between your job and agriculture?

As Head of IT Service at Pöttinger, the leading Austrian agricultural machinery manufacturer, I am in contact with the Pöttinger dealers and also the field service. In my area, a wide range of technical functions are developed and maintained. PÖTIC, MyPÖTTINGER or the PartnerPortal are just a few of the main projects with which we make work easier for our customers from the agricultural machinery trade and also farmers and contractors. 

A MyPÖTTINGER account is a central login for key information about PÖTTINGER machines.

PÖTIC stands for PÖTTINGER Information and Configuration and is an essential tool for all Pöttinger partners when it comes to machine configurations. This tool represents a product configurator in combination with a digital price list. Additionally the dealers are able to call up their available stock machines. Another central tool is our PartnerPortal which is the digital interface between Pöttinger and all Pöttinger Partners.

Did you discover and learn new things about agriculture through your job?

There are always new things to learn, not only about agriculture. One thing I have learnt for sure is that agriculture is broader than just agriculture itself – it is about life in general, how we treat nature, humans and society. Agriculture is much more than people think: it is a way of life. I am very thankful that I have the opportunity to work at a family owned company which produces agricultural machines and was the assistant of Mr. Heinz Pöttinger. Getting to know the family and seeing the next generation continuing the spirit of the family business and taking over responsibility is remarkable. After all it gave and still gives me a broader insight in how important it is to support farmers in their efficiency producing healthy goods for our society and being responsible for sustainable management.

Agriculture is present in all aspects of life and people are quite interested in it. A recent example was our open house here at Pöttinger, where more than 10.000 people came to see the plant and get to know Pöttinger and its products.

How is the perception of women in your line of work and in agriculture, in your opinion? Does it still need improving? 

Thanks to social media, women have become more present in what has always been a traditionally male domain. Here at Pöttinger, the number of female employees is rising slowly but surely and we are making every effort to support women in careers where they have been underrepresented.

I am curious if and how current gender debates and issues will influence the lives of women working in agriculture in the future.

If you could start your own farm, how would you run things? 

Starting my own farm would mean that I would like to bring farm life closer to the people.

Since I live in the outskirts of a big city, people lost touch and contact with nature and where our food comes from. Most probably we would need to start with kids from elementary school and it would end with people in care homes who would love to get in touch with animals, vegetables, plants and soil. 

Do you have any advice for our readers?

A piece of advice my former boss in the United States gave me and is always with me: “never be afraid of the shadow behind the wall.” We woman tend to rethink everything twice and by the end of the day we sometimes just think too much. We should be more daring and more self-confident about the things we can achieve!

Renate Neulinger grew up on her family's farm, but moved to Linz (Austria) to pursue her degree in business management. She has been working with Austrian manufacturer Pöttinger, where every effort is made to support women in their careers in agriculture, since 2004.

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