The situation in Latvian agriculture is becoming more complicated with each passing year, primarily due to climatic conditions, says Juris Lazdins, Chairman of the Board of the farmers’ organisation Zemnieku saeima.
“Folk beliefs and sayings no longer come true. After severe hailstorms, we used to say that lightning doesn’t strike the same tree twice – yet in some regions we received 200 millimetres of precipitation in a single day. It turned out that it could strike a third time as well. Three consecutive years have been extremely difficult and challenging for agriculture,” Lazdins said.
According to him, preliminary data show that total grain output this year amounts to 2.3 million tons – around 15% less than last year. However, the quality of the harvest has deteriorated significantly, as 80% of the total volume is suitable only for animal feed. This is also one of the rare years when some grain fields remained unharvested.
When asked whether the state of emergency in agriculture, declared from August until early November, had helped, Lazdins said it prevented even greater problems, as penalty sanctions for delayed delivery of crops were not applied.
“When exporting grain, companies have to charter ships six months in advance and specify exact loading dates. When the ships arrived at ports, harvesting had not even begun yet. The emergency status helped the sector, because all these costs would otherwise have been passed on to farmers, who would have had to pay for them,” Lazdins explained.
Looking ahead, farmers expect a more serious attitude from the government toward its own assets, particularly drainage and land reclamation systems.
Farmers maintain their own drainage systems, Lazdins says, but when these systems flow into state-owned drainage ditches that have not been cleaned for 20 years, water has nowhere to go and remains standing in fields.
“Unfortunately, there are no signs of commitment on the state’s part to maintain its systems. It is only a matter of time before farmers’ fields flood again because the state has failed to clean its ditches,” he said critically.
When asked how this year’s conditions had affected farms, Lazdins replied that “the reality is quite harsh.” Data from the Latvian Rural Advisory and Training Centre indicate that seven suicides and 30 bankruptcies have occurred in the agricultural sector this year. In addition, many farmers have not yet fully sold their production, and their final financial situation remains uncertain.
“Normally, one bad year is manageable. Even two consecutive bad years can be survived. But if a farm operates at a loss for three years in a row, resources simply run out – both financial resources and personal resilience, the hope that “things will get better someday”. Nature is not allowing farmers to catch their breath or build reserves to withstand such challenges. There is a clear sense in the sector that people want to leave – the only question is where they will go. That more farmers will stop farming is a fact,” Lazdins admitted.
He added that in regions where poor results had persisted for three or even four consecutive years and traditional grain farming had become unprofitable, farmers were reassessing their future and switching to other activities, such as grassland cultivation. These activities are not export-oriented, but they require lower investment and can operate with small margins. There is also a growing shift toward organic farming, but given the European Union’s intention to reduce subsidies in the future, the long-term viability of this path is uncertain. Meanwhile, the area sown with winter crops – especially winter rapeseed – has already declined. (BNN)