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LV This year, the resilience of farmers across Latvia is being tested
This year is a year of testing and endurance for farmers, which began with the losses caused by frost for grain growers, African swine fever for pig farmers, and currently the viability of farms is being tested by Russia's ban on importing agricultural products, where the biggest losers will be dairy farmers and vegetable growers. How farmers predict the new harvest and the future of Latvian agriculture, members of the "Farmers' Parliament" in the regions of Latvia comment.
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Kaspars Sūniņš, owner of the farm "Celmiņi" from Kandava region: "On the Kandava side, the sun has not been seen for several days and it is raining continuously. The fodder was prepared on our farm in June and July, and now is the right time to prepare the second round of silage. As soon as the weather conditions clear up, the Kurzeme farmers will continue threshing and prepare the last silage of this summer. Regarding the Russian embargo, I believe that the Russian ban on importing agricultural products for a year will have a minimal impact on the beef cattle industry at the moment, because Latvian beef cattle farmers mostly sell young cattle to European Union countries for fattening. The situation may change in the future."
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Arnis Burmistris, owner of the “Vilciņi – 1” farm, from Jelgava region: "Due to the damage caused by the Kailsala, most of the winter crops in Zemgale had to be reseeded with spring crops in the spring. The rains in Zemgale started when the spring crops were not ready and currently threshing work is difficult. The situation would have been much better if the winter crops had not frozen, because they could be threshed faster than the spring crops. Ideally, the sowing of winter rapeseed should be completed now, but unfortunately this is only in the first half. I believe that farmers in Zemgale will sow less winter rapeseed than planned. About half of my farm has currently been threshed, the grain moisture is from 19% to 24%, so 4 combines can only thresh about 50 ha per day. Currently, the grain is still of food quality, but if it continues to rain, the quality will be at the level of animal feed. We continue to thresh and hope for good weather conditions!"
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The owner of the farm "Ezerlīči" Aivars Trons from Cibla region: "At the moment, harvest work is actively underway in Latgale - most farmers have already managed to thresh winter crops and are continuing to thresh summer crops. Unlike the rest of Latvia, there was much less rainfall in Latgale, which had a positive effect on the quality of cereals. In our part of the country, it is customary to sow winter rapeseed by August 15, so I believe that most farmers have done so. Contrary to normal grain harvests, pig farms are doing dramatically. In many farms in Latgale, grain is grown specifically for fattening pigs, and currently there is a situation where threshing has to be abandoned and pigs have to be slaughtered. Slaughtering a pregnant pig is not only physically difficult, but also morally. Over the years, the Food and Veterinary Service has been established as a control and inspection institution, but perhaps it is time to become a real institution combating the problem!"
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Jānis Bērziņš, Chairman of the Association “Latvijas Ādārzieks”: "Although 3 years have passed since the crisis caused by the "e-coli bacteria" in 2011, Latvian gardeners have not yet fully overcome it and recovered. Currently, the Latvian vegetable growing sector is on the verge of another crisis due to Russia's ban on importing agricultural products. Exports from major vegetable-growing countries in the European Union to Russia exceed 2 billion euros. Currently, the market to Russia is closed, the time for selling vegetables is limited and new outlets have not been found. If prices have already been on a downward trend since June, now the price drop will be even faster. I believe that the situation in the vegetable sector is as dangerous as in dairy farming and the government must find support mechanisms for local farmers so that farms do not have to be liquidated. Our proposal is to increase control over the origin of imported vegetables and inform buyers about it. We also encourage them to buy local products and consider reducing VAT on vegetables and potatoes."
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Ieva Alpa – Eizenberga, owner of the farm “Robežnieki” from Salacgrīva region: "In Salacgrīva region, summer began with constant rain, which prevented obtaining high-quality fodder, followed by a long drought, which significantly reduced the green mass of grasslands, but improved the corn harvest, and now the rain is increasing losses in the grain harvesting process. Overall, I would like to say that this year is a year of testing and endurance for farmers - frost caused losses for grain growers, the areas affected by African swine fever are still expanding, and currently our viability is being tested by Russia's ban on importing agricultural products, where the biggest losers will be dairy farmers. Currently, milk purchase prices have been reduced throughout Latvia from 0.03 euros to 0.11 euros per liter of milk. The good news is that at least milk purchase contracts are not being broken, I have not been informed of such a fact in Salacgrīva and its immediate vicinity. 2 weeks will soon have passed since the ban and we, farmers, need to know the further development of the situation - whether the dairy plants will be able to process milk and find a new outlet. If such prices continue to exist for several months, then the Ministry of Agriculture must tell Europe loudly and clearly that this will sink Latvian farmers and a solution must be found at the European level to compensate for the losses. Also "I believe that the Latvian government must find a support solution for all agricultural sectors involved in the situation, not specific companies, because the biggest losers in this situation will be farmers and producers, especially those who have invested in farms, manure storage facilities, and increasing production capacity."