Take it on the chin
The history of farming in Finland is a history of wresting a livelihood from harsh northern conditions. The twists and turns of EU's agricultural policy have brought a new element of uncertainty into the farmer's life.
Average farm incomes have continued to fall in Finland over the past five years. Due to the EU’s fluctuating agricultural policy, yet another change in the policy might spell substantial drop in income for a modern Finnish dairy farm. How does it feel to live with a threat hanging over one's head?“We don’t worry about that sort of thing on a daily basis,” says farmer Erkki Kärkimaa, 35, at his home farm in Hämeenkyrö, a rural municipality in Pirkanmaa region some 200 kilometres north-west of Helsinki.
The farm has been in the family for nearly a century. Erkki and his wife Jaana Kärkimaa have methodically developed their business with a view to making the farm profitable. They are not dreaming of making a fortune, but would like to have their work rewarded with reasonable stability of life.
“Agriculture cannot just be about profitability this far north, and it is not just the livelihood of one group of people we are talking about. It’s a bigger issue for Finland. We cannot let our fields go to ruin. We may need them one day.”
Jumesniemi is a village with a relatively dense habitation, consisting principally of farms. There are half a dozen dairy farms of similar size within 1.5 kilometres of Kärki farm, all with young farmers keen to keep their farms going. Additional land cannot be bought anywhere nearby.
For Erkki and Jaana Kärkimaa, one of the most important survival strategies is to cooperate with other farms. Kärki farm is part of a four-farm machinery cooperative which shares equipment for taking care of the needs of between 100 and 220 hectares, depending on the application.
In farmer’s point of view, land is and remains, and it provides some sort of a living and security even north of the 60th degree of latitude. And once the land has taken hold of you, it never lets you go.
“Our future is mapped out for years to come, whatever happens in the aid negotiations,” say Erkki and Jaana Kärkimaa.
BY KATI LEPPÄLAHTI
PHOTOS BY SEPPO SAMULI
