Good Practice - Project
Anu and Esa Immonen’s dairy farm in Savo region
Natural constraint payments play a key role in supporting farms to sustain their profitability and develop in areas that would otherwise be abandoned.
General information
RDP Priority
- P4. Ecosystems management
RDP Focus Area
- 4A: Biodiversity restoration, preservation & enhancement
RDP Measure
- M13: Areas with constraints
Summary
Anu and Esa Immonen run Esa’s family estate in Nilsiä, in the region of Savo located some 400 km north of Helsinki. Over the years, encouraged by the stability provided by the natural constraint payments, the couple have made major investments to their farm to improve its profitability.
When they took over their farm in 2000, it had 22 dairy cows and about 40 hectares of arable land. Throughout the years, the payments helped the farm to expand to 160 dairy cows and 140 calves. The farm now has 220 hectares dedicated to growing grass and fodder grain for the cattle.
Results
Thanks to the stability provided by the natural constraint payments, the couple increased the farm’s size and the level of mechanisation. This has maintained the farm’s profitability over the last 20 years.
Three robotic milking systems now handle the 160 dairy cows.
Promoter
Anu and Esa Immonen dairy farm
Funding
EUR 217/ha for plant growing farms & EUR 277/ha for animal husbandry farms in the AB subsidy area of Finland
Ressourcen
Documents
gp_fi_natural_constraints_513_web_fin_0.pdf
(PDF – 326.57 KB)
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