Ecological farms are determined to win consumers

Fertilizer producers as potential buyers are disappointing organic farms that are committed to promoting sustainable agriculture and healthy consumers.

An organic farm in Lithuania is widely regarded as a plot of several hectares favored by couples dedicated to a healthy lifestyle.

The largest shareholder of one of the country's largest agricultural enterprises, the Auga Group, and chairman of the board, Kestutis Yushchenko, confirmed that such a vision is not far from the truth is, it is much bigger than the scale. At least in cases where agriculture is the main source of family income: "20 hectares can even generate a profit of 100 Eur / ha even in the best years, about 2000 euros per year. Can a family survive? Whatever you do with this domain, even if you receive the second of the European payments, you are always lost. A study by the European Commission shows that farmers from 20 to 30 hectares work only on weekends or during their leisure time, while earning the main income from another job. "

In 2014, the Baltic Champs group and the Agrowill group, merged into Auga Group – the new organic farming strategy, of course, raised much more ambitious goals.In August, agricultural companies owned to the group have completed a three-year transition to organic farming.Subsequently, the group said that its net profit in 2017 amounts to 4.82 million Euro and more than doubled compared to 2016

Size is not a criterion

Bibadual and environmentally friendly consumers can grow with the size of the Auga Group.It belongs to the country's top five agricultural enterprises, the largest organic farming company that operates from field to department.This is also one of the largest in Europe.

This year, the harvest business will reap 38 thousand hectares is about 15%. ecologically in the country, occupying about 215-220 thousand. about 3 million one hectare of cultivated land (that is, about 7% less than the European average and half less than in Estonia). The group of companies grows organic crops, vegetables and provides the finished products – soups, canned vegetables, flour, mushrooms, cold-pressed rapeseed oil. Yushchenko notes that the innovative technological solutions applied by the company determine that the production of "Groupe Auga" produces more than 15%. This year, the company was the first to offer supermarkets environmentally friendly meats and broilers, the brand "Auga" was marketed a month ago

The owner of the Auga Group removes the first syllable from the name of the company – as pointed out by foreign customers and highlighting the commercial results – the company is growing rapidly. The growth in financial indicators is mainly explained by the fact that the group's crops were previously certified organic and therefore sold their production at a higher level than the average prices of the segment. In addition, the introduction of technologies and innovations has resulted in an increase in yield crops to be eliminated in the summer. The group of companies announces to have invested 15 million dollars in innovative solutions during the last years. euro But not for tractors, but for strategic decisions. The company seeks to develop circular organic farming: create synergies between different branches of the economy and use organic waste – livestock manure – to produce biogas. It is estimated that by creating a closed cycle, the company could generate twice as much energy from the waste as needed to treat the land.

Modern Life of Poultry

To become familiar with the innovations of modern ecological economy, Yushchenko invited the company "Auga Lankesa", located in the district of Jonava, where are gathered the specialists of tupinga. – a chicken farm, these are just two mobile sleds that spell out thousands of small breeding hens of Isa Brown.

Recently, they were visited by inspectors of non-journalists and the State Food and Veterinary Service. Inspecting the daily routine of the modern bird, the inspectors smiled, and the chickens were noisy: their visit to people always means a good message – some of the food. They are not afraid of both creatures, but they instantly disappear into the cottages of the cottage when they hear the whistle of the visitor mimicking the sound of birds of prey. One would have heard about another educational story on Auga Group 's farm, one of them having caught a grbadhopper on a broiler farm, the only one on record. one of them capturing a camera.

Mobile nest boxes can be remote controlled without a full product market. "Innovation specialist for a year and a half has created a gadget that included both the already used controllers and the features that Lithuanians did not have.Now, employees are happy that almost all jobs in the cellars can be carried out by the Siemens electronic controller.A distance you can chicken (they get organic wheat, peas, beans and various vegetables – grown in the same way as the "Auga Group") – open the windows of the windows (Natural ventilation greatly reduces the demand for electricity, windows can react to temperature signals) Adjusting or not lighting if it turns out that its intensity is too low.

It is true that the routine of chicken life is predetermined and automated, so the average person does not even need to interfere with it.Lighting is regulated – intensified or reduced – so as to create a proper rhythm for the reproduction of the hen. The birds themselves know when it is time to go home from the meadows, soon the windows and the ground close, and the controllers check the computers just according to what they feel for the locals. ; housing. "High-tech", – Yushchenko satisfied.

When it comes to the decision of the lessons of the pilot project, the "Auga Group" of these houses will appear much more. Until now, only a few shops are available, but the company plans to provide export markets. A contractor admits that the price of mobile homes, especially when the rules for laying hens are not lost, is considerable, but he thinks that in the long run it will pay off because the hen will live healthier here, and so longer. In traditional farms, thousands of chickens sometimes die because the temperature of the ventilation system is cut off due to the high density of birds for a critical increase in minutes. Employees of "Groupe Auga" spacious hens would not have done anything without hours, even in the absence of electricity. On the other hand, they instantly receive controller information regarding any change in power. But there is nothing to fear: the solar power plant next to the green farm is equipped with a battery. In addition, a wind farm will soon appear here – another source of renewable energy will be exploited.

A few weeks later, the mobile hen caravan will be moved several hundred meters away, with chickens near the nearest lawns. drugs – including coccidiostats. Traditional farms give it a synthetic bird. The Auga group does not use chemicals for poultry or antibiotics.

Methods Tested by Mothers

The chairman of the Auga Group Board of Directors wears a cropped cell phone. On the screen – a map with different cultures and signs marking the area. When chemically intercepted fields between plant group fields are intercepted, the organic farm owners must mark the protective strips and cultivate the crops grown in a given area separately and sell them as non-organic – check that the plants do not. do not have the chemistry of the neighbors. "It is necessary not to spill chemicals in windy weather, there are other rules, but you know …" – The interlocutor fell.

The apple helps not only to stay on the farms but also to plan a rotation. When in 2014 The merger of the two companies was decided on the new ecological direction, and the leaders first took the experience of the company executives, who not only remembered the rotation cultures since the Soviet era, but had already heard about their grandparents. However, Yushchenko pointed out that it is a different crop rotation than traditional farms chemical breeding, where wheat is replaced by rape and vice versa, and a large quantity of chemicals is sprayed

. (Photo by P. Pelecki)

Protecting organic farms from pests is a complicated subject, recognized by the interlocutor. Instead of chemicals, all the natural "smears" are tried, but they are not very effective. It is easier to choose biological plant varieties that are specific to a disease or pest and to effectively use crop rotation. Therefore, beans, peas, wheat, oats or sugar beet are seeded thoroughly in the company's fields. When plants return to the same field every four or five years, there are no dangerous pests of some crops. "As before, only the technical measures of a higher level," said K. Yushchenko

If an environmentally-friendly farmer worries that weeds do not creep crops, good land preparation is needed before and after harvest and in the fall. "Ecological farms can choose in two ways: naturalistic or holistic, when you go and dance, just look and wait for what God will give: the better we will go, the weeds or the seedlings." But I doubt that by raising a ton of grain per hectare and two tons of weeds, the benefits to nature are greater and how to feed humanity … – Yushchenko was noisy – or we can do like ourselves – do a lot of work under soil monitoring, so that weeds do not break down It seems to me that we have no choice – since even using innovative methods, crop rotation, diligently fighting the bad ones herbs, an organic farm produces about 15% less output.For the third year under the direction of an agricultural business, K. Yushch knows from his experience – if the weed control is only in spring s, it will be too late – even cut before sowing, that it will recover and release the leaves. . "It's easy for a chemist farm – you can spray the soil in a spring like Roundup and then sow it," commented the interviewer. – And we have to perform considerably more operations. On the other hand, because of this, organic farms create twice as many jobs in the countryside as chemical farms. It is possible, instead of paying for chemical companies, to pay people.

Most of the Auga Group companies operate in what is called near-farm – minimum tillage technology – only the 5-7 cm top layer is cultivated. And the fight against weeds is the following: for the first time, the sprayers try to cut a few centimeters of germs, thus destroying the easily germinated weeds, after a few weeks, they are shaved a few centimeters, and the procedure starts again at spring

. It is not unique, but very effective, "commented the interlocutor.-Especially that it allows you to save a lot of energy.Because the flow of the layer 20 cm thick soil requires much more power.On the other hand, all organic matter – straw and other plant residues – remains in the top layer.When the top layer is closed, especially if the soil is heavier, no micro-organism develops and only processes that are not beneficial to the plants occur.The soil needs air and then improves its capacity. absorption, do not crush crust. "

New lessons every year

K. Yushi thinks that in a few years he has become a poor specialist in agriculture. "I already understand a lot, not because I should, but because I'm curious, I know who needs each piece of equipment and how to use it properly, anyway, all innovations come with my support", said the business man. He is learning from older and younger agronomists. Auga Group's international team also has very high-level specialists from Germany. Professionals learn from each other – this, according to K. Yushchenko, is one of the great advantages of the company: when a group of people gets the same task, brilliant decisions are born faster .

"You can not wait for a specialist. Not surprisingly, every year we introduce new technologies and learn. For example, using satellite technology, we sowed the field of sugar beet – so that the distances in all directions are the same as on a chessboard. This was probably not in Lithuania, and in Europe it is a rare case. Now, we must learn to get them so precisely that the least amount of manual labor will be needed later, "- said the businessman.

K. Yushch entered the Agriculture and organic products with the title of king of Baltic mushrooms.The new business processes seem a little slow: ten harvests are harvested a year during the cultivation of mushrooms, which allows to increase or to

The chairman of the Auga group's board of directors ensures that the absence of zaratho There are many more challenges on the farm, one must be strategist, think three years at the farm. Here are just as weeds: do not weed out now, it will grow, and after a few years you will not know what to do. "

K. Yushchenko thinks that he is not only an agricultural specialist – he is interested. (Photo: P. Pelecki)

Another reason is the choice of organic farming and production – Mr. Yushchenko does not doubt the future of organic products: "The market organic products has tripled in Europe and the US for 10 years. It is difficult to find a more promising sector. And the demand for such products is always higher than the supply. We can not say that there is a lack of organic products, but all new farmers are on the market because consumption is increasing faster than specialists.

Conditional Success

It is true that the demand for organic products in Lithuania – The certified products in our grocery shopping cart represent less than 1%. "So, even if consumption increases by 30%, it will not be the same as, say, Sweden, where it grew by 40% a year ago, but by 11%. fundamentally change the situation, "- stressed K. Yushchenko

In Lithuania, we can only use certain organic products because the company has orders abroad – local buyers are specifically subsidized. An example could be the organic soups produced by the Auga group, which has even reached the Japanese market. "We would certainly not be able to offer this product in the domestic market at a competitive price if foreign customers did not need to automate their production." In Lithuania, it does not need to automate their production. only 10 or 20% production – I'm not just talking about the products in our group – the organic products we make travel to Denmark, the Netherlands, Germany and elsewhere, "Yushchenko said.

The results of the polls in the country are also clear. The businessman smiles: when people ask if eating good food is good, 30% The consumer is firmly responsible for the "yes". But when asked if a person would agree to pay more for organic products, it turns out that it is only acceptable for Y and Z buyers, or about 30%. users. The older a person is, the less likely they are to spend money on organic products – this is no longer a healthy diet.

K. According to Juščys, Lithuanian producers of organic products will have to pay at least until they have enough children who know today the benefits of organic products in gardens. children or schools. A contractor gives the example – a customer from Sweden who brought an eight-year-old girl into organic rays. She was surprised that her parents do not care about buying milk from better natural cows. But in Lithuania, the admirer of the conversation is not so easy – we spend about half of our income on food and the average European comes out with 12-14%

"But alright Sure, we will try to educate our consumer so that it is clearer: how do these chickens live and what eggs they make.After the foundation itself, it is not the same thing ", Said Yushchenko

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Growing up like a mushroom

The history of the eco-business of the Auga Group began when the current group The Baltic Champs Group , headed by President Yushchenko, has launched into mushroom growing in 2014. merged with Agrowill Group, a mixed agricultural enterprise.Baltic Champs Group became the largest shareholder of the group.After the merger, the company was revised, non-profit and non-agricultural businesses were discontinued. 2015 The group has published a new agricultural strategy and has embarked on the transition to organic farming.

2016 The Agrowill group has introduced the "Auga Group" brand and the "Auga" brand to the market. The main export markets are currently the Scandinavian countries, Germany, the United Kingdom, Finland, France, Italy, Japan and South Korea.