ZSA congress held on March 15

We have had a Farmers' Saeima Congress filled with valuable discussions and insights! Meeting at Bulduri Horticultural Secondary School on March 15, we jointly discussed what we had done last year, defending the interests of farmers both nationally and internationally, and welcomed the participants and organizers of the protests that took place in February and March. The board informed the members about the research projects in which the Farmers' Saeima is actively involved. In 2023, we worked on 13 projects – Mednis, LIFE GoodWater IP, CODECS, NOVASOIL, ESA, OPER8, AgriDataValue, LIVET, BreedExpo2, Sustainable Silage, CINURGI, BASCIL, NENUPHAR). MORE ABOUT PROJECTS

During the conference part of the congress, the participants were addressed by Minister of Agriculture Armands Krauze, who surprised everyone by announcing that the fifth eco-scheme will not be opened this year and that it will be combined with other eco-schemes in the future.

At the conference, SKDS Director Arnis Kaktiņš presented the results of a public opinion poll conducted at the end of last year. The survey results show that 871% of Latvian residents consider agriculture to be important in the country's economy and exports, and for years, the problem in rural Latvia that worries residents the most is the potholed, dilapidated rural roads.

The congress also featured a guest from Finland, farmer Max Schulman, who presented trends in the global grain market, focusing on factors that affect grain prices in the world - both climate change and economic and political factors - as well as outlining potential future opportunities and challenges for grain farmers in the European Union and especially the Baltic Sea region.

The conference was concluded by a discussion among dairy industry representatives on the advantages and challenges of joining cooperatives. As all participants agreed, cooperation is a way to achieve more favorable and equal conditions for dairy farmers, either by the cooperative concluding long-term agreements with milk processing companies or by providing milk processing itself.

The discussion "Dairy industry - to be strong or not?" was attended by:

– Jānis Ločmelis – Chairman of the Council of the Cooperative Society ''Piena Logistika'', Z/S Mazdzērvītes;

– Mārtiņš Valko – Head of the Joint Stock Company ''Pampāļi'', member of the board of the Farmers' Assembly;

– Jānis Zadiņš – Farmstead ''Jaunsniķeri'', organic dairy farming;

– Ieva Alpa Eizenberga – ZS ''Robenžnieki'' farm, which has ceased its dairy farming activities;

– Aldis Kļaviņš – ZS ''Ceriņi'', dairy farming.

Thank you to all participants for fruitful discussions!