A field day is taking place: “SOYA 2019. Hopeful!”

Indeed, the annual SOY project Field Day on August 28 at the Rubuļi farm remained on an optimistic note. The soybean fields this year look much more promising than last year, the harvest is expected to be more stable, and weeds have been better managed. The markets have swung in favor of the growing pressure for home-grown protein, grown here in Europe, rather than brought across the ocean. Pig farmers are also looking to the future with hope this year, as they have expected good prices. However, the main message of the seminar – the experiment conducted at Rubuļi, feeding pigs home-grown soybean meal, has proven – there is no difference whether local meal or imported soybean meal is included in the feed, pigs grow equally vigorously, because the main thing is that the feed is balanced!

The theoretical part of the seminar was made up of the entire EIP project group - talking about soybean cultivation, feeding, and economic aspects. A researcher from Germany also participated in the seminar, emphasizing the special role of gum bacteria in the formation of legume yields.

Special thanks to the hosts of "Rubuļi" Benita and Sergejs Virtis for their hospitality and sharing their experiences.

The Field Day is supported by the project “New technologies and economically viable solutions for local feed production for pig farming: cultivation of genetically non-modified soybeans and new fodder barley varieties in Latvia” of the RDP 2014-2020 measure 16 “Cooperation” 16.1. sub-measure. Or in short: the SOJA project.