Annabelle Mandeng is a farmer for a day

Annabelle Mandeng currently stars as the level-headed American consul in the Netflix action thriller Exterritorial. The fit actress and presenter is also a regular presence on television and on the red carpets of VIP parties. In mid-May 2025, the Berlin resident swapped her chic evening attire for green-gray rubber boots and headed out to the Brandenburg countryside. At the farm of Dr. Thomas Gäbert, chairman of the Trebbin Agricultural Cooperative, she not only played a farmer for a day, she also lent a helping hand.

What is your connection to agriculture?

I grew up in Bad Zwischenahn in Lower Saxony. As children, we used to steal corn cobs from the fields and strawberries from the neighbor's garden. That's why I have a very natural relationship with the countryside. In addition, I started riding horses at a very early age. My best friend and I used to help out at the stable. We cleaned out hooves and mucked out stalls.

Did you know much about agricultural professions?

Not really, until now. It was only after my day as a farmer that I finally got an idea! In my role as a moderator, I often have to learn about topics that I am unfamiliar with. That's pretty much how it was this time. Agriculture is an area that interests me greatly as a consumer, as I am a nutrition-conscious and fitness-oriented person. But it was only through the “Farmer for a Day” campaign that I was able to find out first-hand how food production and animal husbandry really work and immediately develop the utmost respect for this important industry.

You have been a vegetarian for 20 years. Yet you still comment on meat purchases?

Yes, because I think it is incredibly important that we consumers support and strengthen regional agriculture. German products are of very high quality, the products travel short distances, and most farms are very open to visitors. If you take the opportunity to visit farms and look behind the farm gates, it will certainly result in a greater awareness of where our food actually comes from. After all, animal husbandry will continue to exist as long as we eat meat and consume dairy products. Such a visit therefore encourages us to eat more consciously and to pay more attention to animal welfare. This is good for our health and for our conscience!

What surprised you most during your visit to the farm in Trebbin?

I didn't expect everything to be so well organized and interconnected. The agricultural cooperative manages over 4,000 hectares of land and also looks far beyond its own horizons. It operates its own paint shop, where vehicles and agricultural machinery are repaired, and canteens and kitchens, where meals are prepared using its own products. Not to mention the large fleet of modern agricultural machinery. Apartments are rented for the apprentices so that they can live together in shared accommodation and don't feel alone.

I was also very impressed by the efficiency. The farms that belong to the cooperative help each other, and with 4,000 hectares of land, that's simply an impressive scale. But despite all the modernity and size, it's also a very loving and close-knit community. For example, some calves are fed by hand with feeding bottles.

What work did you do that day?

First, I changed the calves' feed in the cowshed. They are given a kind of cereal, a mixture of grains and hay. This is spread out in front of them. To make it easier to digest, this calf cereal is covered with a film containing lactic acid bacteria. As soon as air gets to the feed, it spoils quite quickly. So anything that is not eaten has to be swept up and disposed of.

How are the calves kept?

The calves are divided into different age groups. Each group has enough space, and their feed is constantly replenished. The fences are as tall as the animals, so they can see over them, and they are allowed to go outside depending on the weather. I got the impression that the animals on this farm are treated very well.

What happened after the visit to the cowshed?

We drove to a field. There I drove a tractor that is as high-tech as an airplane. It has a cockpit with a high-tech computer. The routes to be driven are programmed into this computer. Once that is done, the tractor driver only stays in the cockpit for monitoring purposes, because the tractor drives autonomously. This means that the farmer is a supervisor in his own tractor spaceship. I would not have thought that.

The field where I was with a technician and a plant scientist was 55 hectares in size. It takes ten hours to loosen it up with a machine. Therefore, such advanced technology also protects the person behind the wheel, as it makes the work much less tiring.

Did you visit any other stations?

I went to another farm where cattle manure was transferred to a so-called cattle manure tank on a transporter. Anke, a colleague, and I drove it to the biogas processing plant. Then we went to a field to take soil samples with geologist Marvin. To do this, I drove a 90-centimeter-long pipe into the ground with a huge sledgehammer. After pulling it out again, we were able to analyze the soil inside.

The darker it is, the more water it contains. The soil samples tell farmers where their fields are most fertile. The results are programmed into a seed drill, for example. The more fertile the soil, the more seeds are sown there. If the soil is sandier, fewer seeds are sown.

So agriculture uses modern technologies to increase yields?

Yes, but also to monitor animal health. Monitoring technologies are used to check whether animals are receiving sufficient nutrients, for example. The technologies monitor plants, soil, and animals around the clock. They analyze, evaluate, and adjust. Manual checks and monitoring are also carried out. For example, Dr. Gäbert picked up a leaf with a brown spot near the ground in a rye field. To me, it looked like a harmless sunspot! But in fact, it was an indication of an infection that needed to be treated if it spread further.

Have you seen any examples of how biodiversity has been increased?

We drove to a flower strip where wild bee colonies can regenerate. Preserving nature is vital for farmers. Some people believe that flower strips like this take away land that could be used for higher yields, Dr. Gäbert told me, but in the long term, this kind of measure is simply smart! After all, if important insects become extinct, the environment is destroyed by overexploitation, or animals become ill due to poor husbandry and feed, farmers will ultimately lose much higher yields.

How do you rate the farming profession?

The job is anything but boring, because it is highly complex. Everything you need to know is really challenging! It ranges from botany, mathematical and technical understanding to a feeling for nature and wildlife. Farmers don't have fixed working hours. They have to respond at the most impossible times, whether it's a cow calving or a spare part for one of those expensive agricultural machines that has to be picked up immediately from southern Germany or Paris to avoid major downtime. All this makes the profession varied and highly interesting! A relevant degree or training in this field therefore offers great career opportunities.

When you were on your way home, what were your thoughts?

First of all, I was grateful that I had been able to experience this, and I was also thoughtful. I advise everyone to visit a farm at least once to gain an understanding of food production. After all, agriculture feeds us and is therefore the basis of our lives. Farmers are often treated condescendingly and disrespectfully. This must stop immediately! And then there are all these bureaucratic hurdles. They have to comply with EU directives, German and regional regulations, all of which are different. This takes an incredible amount of time that farmers could better spend with their animals or in their fields. Politicians should finally recognize this. Everyone who works in politics should spend a day on a farm to understand the daily routine and, above all, the amount of work involved, because farmers are the nation's providers.

Will you shop differently after the campaign day?

Since I mainly eat vegetables, I have been making sure to buy regional products for a long time. But now I can also understand much better why organic produce is more expensive. The farms, most of which are family businesses, have to meet many complex and time-consuming health criteria that simply cost money. Certain prices are therefore necessary to enable the farms to meet these requirements and avoid going bankrupt. However, these prices are absolutely justified and, in terms of our health, the right investment!

Closing remark:
This interview and other exciting stories about people in agriculture can be found on the website of our cooperation partner Forum Moderne Landwirtschaft: Forum Moderne Landwirtschaft (moderne-landwirtschaft.de)