Farmers are always looking for ways to improve farm efficiency, use their resources more wisely and choose the right financial partners. Farming more sustainable for your money and the environment. Once they have made up their minds, they don't hesitate. We interviewed three farmers who are developing sustainable agriculture, expanding and modernising their farms and are optimistic about the future in partnership with "HeavyFinance". Here are the farming stories of Aivaras Valainis, Petras Pošiūnas and Deividas Kinta - unique and distinctive.
Aivaras Valainis, owner of an organic mixed farm
(Rokiškis district)
From the very beginning, we were determined to farm organically. For me, it’s important to nurture what I believe in. 4 years ago, when my family and I moved from the capital to our hometown Rokiškis, registered our farm and signed a contract with the State Enterprise “Ekoagros”, we turned towards dairy farming and crop production. We had some skills from our childhood, when we had about ten cattle to look after. However, I chose the path of a financier and now I’m still self-employed, advising international financial institutions, so I had to learn farming all over again.
We currently have more than 100 cattle. We are actively expanding and modernising our farm. We are the only ones in the Rokiškis region to have built milking robots, to have automated feeding with cereal fodder, and to have mechanised distribution of grass fodder. In the next 2-3 years, we plan to reach the golden mean of 500 cattle, about 350 milking cows.
The last few years have not been the best for dairy farming, and I think this will continue for a few more years. But at the same time, it is like scissors: Lithuania exports dairy products, and processors will have problems in the future because they will have to deal with milk shortages. The older generation is no longer willing to invest in farms. My strategy is to expand at the expense of shrinking farms. Of course it is painful, it requires a lot of investment in the short term, but in the long term the same scissors will bring benefits. I am ambitious and I know I can do it, I want to move forward, I want to create, I am interested in new things.
As we are developing dairy farming together with crop farming, we have about 320 ha of land. We grow triticale, wheat, maize, corn, lupins, buckwheat, peas and oats. We are increasing both the number of crops and the area under cultivation. Basically, everything comes back to the farm, for example as fodder. We sell organic rapeseed, and at the same time we change to organic rapeseed cake, which allows us to increase milk quality and milk yields, given that there are many restrictions on the use of additives in livestock. Currently, the average milk yield of the herd is around 25 liters. In a safe and animal-friendly organic farm, a daily milk yield of 33 liters per cow would be excellent. I think we will definitely achieve that. Of course, organic milk is not cost-effective today, so we are subsidising a dairy farm with crop farming, which in real terms ‘eats up’ about EUR 7 000 a month. I also reinvest my personal income in the farm. That’s how we roll.
Everything we do is about choosing to live green. We look at how to use our land efficiently, rotate crops, choose a high crop rotation (7-8 crops), sow intercropping, shallow cultivation, and use only organics where possible – fertilising with manure. Bearim technology makes it a bit more complicated. We try to work the land as minimally as possible, using shallow tillage and organic harrows. We are trying out different technologies to see what works best for the fields, how to control weeds, etc. We test implements from different manufacturers, try splitting the same fields in two and using different tillage methods, compare them, etc.
In our search for information, we found “HeavyFinance”. I like the fact that they specialise in the agricultural sector, because you are sure that they know and understand the working cycles of a farmer, which is something you cannot say about banks. The start with “HeavyFinance” was easy, we quickly discussed and agreed on the schedules. They are quick to respond to changes on the farm, for example if there are losses. This is very much needed, because everything happens on the farm – the ongoing dairy crisis, crop production with droughts or frosts, crop failures. Financial injections are needed, so their flexibility and their ability to look at things from a different angle is very useful to the farmer.
The large amount of land under cultivation allows for larger purchases: the loan is for another milking robot. To reduce nitrogen losses, pollution and odours, we are also building a covered slurry tank with EU support, an elevator with four silos, dryers and treatment facilities.
To encourage such a community, we have already joined “HeavyFinance” Carbon Farming Programme a month ago – a great opportunity to offset interest by selling the carbon certificates you have accumulated on your farm. Of course, the market still needs regulatory oversight on price management, as it allows large refineries to use the purchase of carbon certificates without reducing their emissions, but in principle this programme allows the farmer to earn extra income, encouraging a shift to sustainable agriculture, which will generate income in the future, not just the possibility of offsetting interest.
I am positive about the Carbon Farming Programme and I am convinced that there is a real need for it in the market, especially for farms that are not organic. “I consider “HeavyFinance” to be a reliable financial partner to help me on the path of progress.
Petras Pošiūnas, who runs a 2000 ha organic crop farm with his family members
(Švenčionys district)
We were one of the first in Lithuania to start farming, as soon as the Farmer’s Farm Law came out. We are now by far the largest farm in Švenčionys district. We chose the organic direction back in 1996, when there was no EU support. We are in favour of healthier food and respect for nature. We grow buckwheat, oats and winter wheat. Of course, there have been good years and bad years.
It is a pity that ecology is not yet well appreciated by Lithuanians, and that there are few processors in Lithuania who need organic produce.
When it’s more expensive, people don’t buy much. After all, the consumer determines what they need. The market reacts to that. Most of our farm’s grain ‘goes abroad’.
The farm’s soils vary from 28 to 50, and there are even some with a productivity score of 55. We have tested the soil in the fields. The tests show a lack of potassium, phosphorus and trace elements. You can see it in the yields: if you don’t fertilise, you get less. This year, for example, we threshed buckwheat at around 1 tonne per hectare and oats at up to a tonne per hectare. That’s summer. Naturally, the land needs fertiliser. So we are wondering what kind of organic fertiliser to use. We are thinking about wood ash. We just need to figure out how to get it to spread evenly.
We use crop rotation and intercropping to improve the soil, and a decade ago we opted for the bearim technology. This is how you keep thinking about how to farm more sustainable for your wallet and for the environment. The farmer takes his own risks. And you have to look at different financial options. And here we took advantage of a great offer – “HeavyFinance” interest-free green loan. We have purchased machinery for the development of non-agricultural agriculture, including trailed shallow cultivation implements. As far as I know, others are building grain stores and drying facilities. Financial assistance is very much needed and useful. There is a lot of work to do on the farm, technology is improving, so there are different needs all the time. After all, you invest all the money you have in improving the farm.
4 years ago, we made a commitment to do even more to save the soil by taking part in “HeavyFinance” Carbon Farming Programme. This year, an agronomist from Germany came to the farm to inspect our land. I am pleased that we are on the right track. I think it is worthwhile for farmers to participate in this programme. After all, many people have given up ploughing, especially organic farmers, and are using various soil improvement measures. Everybody is keen to save money, so if you go for the no-till technology, you will definitely reduce fuel and labour costs, and you will also accumulate carbon credits, which will give the farm additional income. We need to use these programmes. It is very important that as many farmers as possible in our country follow a sustainable path.
Deividas Kinta, owner of a 200 ha crop farm
(Ukmergė district)
We grow wheat, rapeseed, barley and peas. This year we also have oats, although I don’t know if I will go back to them. If it had been a good harvest, it would not have been difficult to sell. Oats are definitely needed by Lithuanian companies too. Only this year’s drought and more than a week of 34 oC the heat simply scorched the oats and there was no harvest. So every year brings new challenges. I am looking at sunflowers and maize to complement my summer crops.
I registered my farm in 2011, but I used to help my father with farm work when I was still a schoolboy. When the farm got bigger, I bought a more powerful tractor and a disc cultivator. After rape and peas, I tried not to use the plough, just to shave the soil. I found that, once it was tilled like that, it was perfect for sowing. It also saves me time and fuel. We have clay soils, and once the clay was dry, it was a problem to get it out: if it dried up, you couldn’t get it out again until it rained, no matter how hard you tried. So I moved towards not using a plough at all, but sowing immediately after the cultivator. Later I replaced it with a direct drill. Now I have been direct drilling for 4 seasons. I bought a stubble harrow, which I use to go through the stubble, make a furrow and then use the drill. That’s how I started moving towards sustainable farming.
I studied the soil when I was still using a cultivator. There were many fears that it would be bad, that I would have to go back to the plough, that yields would suffer. I can safely say that I have not suffered any loss of yield as a result of direct drilling, unless nature intervened. Of course, I have to cultivate more neatly, I have a good rotation, I sow catch crops. I grow a lot of herbaceous plants with mixtures of phacelia, radish, mustard and clover. I have improved my land a lot. I have cut clover, and I have planted wheat directly into the clover. They feel great and they are greening up beautifully.
When I was looking for a combine harvester and who would lease it to me, I found HeavyFinance. I was one of the first customers. I got the loan, bought the machinery, and then we were on our way together. I needed working capital, because a farm, at least a small one, cannot do without it. I also got it from them. Then there was the Green Loan, and then there was the Carbon Farming Programme. I did not need to change anything, I was already on the road to sustainable farming, I just needed to take advantage of the programme.
Patience is needed, especially with direct drilling. One has to accept that at the beginning, after sowing, the condition of the fields looks bad, but only to the eye and not to the plant. It feels really good growing among the staghorns and residues. It takes patience and knowledge, and there is certainly a lack of the latter, especially about intercrops, their effect on the soil, which mixtures to grow, how much each crop and what it accumulates in the soil. I also consult “HeavyFinance” specialists on agronomic issues.
The Carbon Farming Programme is a big and good incentive for farmers to choose sustainable farming. I would suggest that everyone move towards it and take advantage of the opportunities. Nature is changing, and we have to adapt to it by going further and saving both our own and nature’s resources.
The farmers were interviewed by Ramunė Sutkevičienė, Editor-in-Chief of the Lithuanian Agricultural Advisory Service, akroakademija.lt. Photos from the farmers’ personal archives.
