Animal feed is being prepared in Kurzeme, hoping for more favorable weather conditions

More than 40 participants today visited a trip to 3 agricultural enterprises in Kurzeme organized by the association "Zemnieku saeima". The farmers comment on what is currently happening in dairy farming, sheep farming, and chicory growing and processing farms and what the autumn forecast is.

Kristaps Melbārdis, owner of the Mežoki farm, Kuldīga region: "We are engaged in sheep farming on the farm and currently there is an active collection of fodder. The quality of the grass is different - in some places it is good, in others it is lousy. If we talk specifically about sheep farming, then currently there is mass breeding of livestock and the lamb trading season will start at the end of July, beginning of August. Market trends in the industry are peculiar - it seems that lamb is needed, but at the same time, it is not being bought. Recently, buyers have been seen in Latvia from both Poland and Israel, however, we cannot provide the necessary volume. In live weight, lamb in Latvia costs 1.50-2.50 euros/kg, while meat costs 3.50-5.00 euros/kg. The average sales price in Europe is 5.20 euros/kg."

Erling Vang Mathias, owner of SIA "Ugāle Agro", Ventspils region: "We are engaged in dairy farming and grain farming on the farm. As for dairy farming, the current milk purchase price is 0.31 euros/kg. Next week we will start the second hay cutting. If the first cutting was not as good as we would like, then the second one is currently looking very good. We also grow wheat and barley on the farm and they are currently looking very good, but it is too early to judge the harvest. We hope that the weather conditions will become more stable. In previous weeks, the weather forecast changed every two hours, which made work planning difficult."

Agronomist Jānis Kreičmanis of SIA “BiAgro Kurzeme”, Skrunda region: "We grow chicory on the farm and supply it to SIA "Granova" for processing. Overall, it must be said that this season has not started the way we wanted. We started sowing in mid-April, however, due to adverse weather conditions (drought, temperature changes, snow and cold waves), the germination of chicory seeds significantly decreased and the development of the sprouted chicory was hindered. As a result, the chicory sowings have not reached the optimal density. The decisive months for the harvest will be August and September, when the chicory will form root mass. Let's hope that at least these months will have optimal soil moisture and air temperature. If we talk about processing and the market, then this issue has been sorted out. The main thing is to have a productive year!"

PRes_Animal feed is being prepared in Kurzeme, hoping for more favorable weather conditions