"Farmers' Council" Country Days bring together farmers from all over Latvia

On Tuesday, July 14, in Tukums region, in Irlava parish, the Rural Day “Technology for returning overgrown land to agricultural production” organized by the association “Zemnieku saeima” (ZSA) took place at the farm of SIA “Joži”. The Rural Day featured demonstrations of reclamation milling machines, drain layers, drain flushers, scrapers and ditch mowers/shredders.

For the first time in Latvia, Country Days were organized, where it was possible to see the mentioned equipment and its operation in real conditions. Visitors paid special attention to bush and stump grinders, as well as equipment and devices intended for the installation of land reclamation systems. Taking into account the wide response and interest, ZSA is considering the possibility of organizing Country Days in other regions of Latvia. The event brought together farmers, equipment dealers, service providers and representatives of state institutions.

Gunvaldis Sproģis, the owner of SIA "Joži", believes that returning agricultural land to production is an important component of agricultural development.
"Together with ZSA, we decided to organize a Country Day because interest in return of agricultural land to production was from the edges. SIA "Joži" has been engaged in the removal of overgrowth, the arrangement of fields, the recovery of agricultural lands for ten years. I believe that in Latvia the return of land should be carried out intensively and the land should not be cultivated. If our great-grandfathers dug up the forests, then why are we talking about afforestation today? You can make an elementary calculation on a piece of paper and see what provides greater income for both farmers and the state.
In my opinion, the main benefit of such Country Days is the exchange of experience. At the event, farmers could see how the land, which was overgrown, was cleared of vegetation and, in principle, prepared for sowing. Then the land can be sown and harvested. Each farmer must decide for himself whether to buy such equipment, rent it or use a service, because it is quite specific. If farmers approached the improvement of their land as we do today at Country Days, then in two or three years they could recover all the necessary land. Of course, investments are needed, but it can be done. I do not see any obstacles to cleaning up the land, except for laziness or lack of education. If the land has an owner, then it will be in order!”

"I believe that it is important that such Country Days, seminars, and trainings are organized by societies and various types of associations that unite farmers, because who understands the current affairs of the industry better than the farmers themselves?
It is very important that at the Country Day, equipment was demonstrated that has not been shown together before. There have been theoretical seminars on this topic, equipment has been on display at exhibitions, but at the Country Day there was an opportunity to see practical demonstrations. This was the first time that the ZSA has organized such Country Days, but the interest of farmers was evidenced by the large number of visitors - people had come from the far corners of Vidzeme and Latgale. This event was also a great opportunity for equipment dealers and service providers to show their equipment in real operation and see how other companies' equipment works. It is important to show policymakers that Latvian farmers are very actively returning land to production.
Farmers want this process not to be hindered, on the contrary – support mechanisms should be sought to support the return of agricultural land to production. For example, currently, the Rural Development Programme has the opportunity to financially advance this process and support farmers with various payments. We see that unmanaged land is becoming less and less. Of course, it is not easy to return areas that have not been used in agricultural production to agricultural production,” so does Mārtiņš Trons, agricultural policy expert at the "Farmers' Parliament".

Agronomist Jānis Kreičmanis of the agricultural company "BiAGRO Kurzeme" was pleased with both the favorable weather conditions and the interesting demonstrations of machinery at the Countryside Day: "During the Countryside Days, we had the opportunity to see a field that has been overgrown with bushes and grass and, by all accounts, has not been tended for several decades. Returning agricultural land to production is becoming increasingly relevant, as less and less land remains unmanaged. In order for farms to be able to increase their areas for production, it is necessary to return abandoned land that has not been used for years. Such events are very valuable because they provide an opportunity to see and learn newer technologies. In order to increase their fields and also reduce the overgrown areas in Latvia, farmers must follow the development of the industry and, drawing on the experience and ideas of their colleagues, choose solutions appropriate for their farm."

“In my opinion, the “Farmers’ Assembly” Country Day organized this year had great added value, as farmers were introduced to technologies that help them perform various agricultural tasks. It was a pleasure to show our new generation soil planer, which, after tree felling and sod harvesting, evens out the soil relief. It was practically demonstrated how the land is dug, moved and leveled, preparing it for sowing. This was a very good opportunity to show the technology in action to a large number of visitors. Of course, information materials are already available in the media, but farmers want to see this technology in action in nature and the ZSA Country Days provided such an opportunity,” Viktors Melbārdis, representative of "IMC Scrapers", comments on the past day.

We would like to thank the represented companies for their participation in the Countryside Days: SIA “Valtek”, SIA “VBC GRUP”, SIA “Jelgavas melioracija”, LPKS “Latraps”, SIA “Baltic Manufacturing Group”, SIA “Baltic Invest”, SIA “Limbažu melio”.