Summary

Jānis Volksons is a young farmer who took over the farm ‘Trubenieki’ in 2016. Previously the farm was operating as a pig farm and it did not have large fields that could be used for growing crops. Instead he decided to create a niche product out of the ordinary agricultural production of mushrooms.

The farm started to produce mushroom during the winter which was already a new practice as they are commonly produced only in the summer season. Further to this, the young farmer used RDP support to set up a production line turning the mushrooms that could not be sold into dried, grounded mushroom powder. In addition he created a reception where tourists could taste the shiitake mushrooms soup thus gaining additional income from diversifying his activities.

Results

The investment helped increase the volume of mushroom production.

A reception room for tourists was set up  enabling the farm to become an attraction for visitors and promote the new product.

The expansion and diversification of the business helped to increase the income and provide capital that can be invested to further develop the farm.

The investment created a full-time job for one person.