Ūkio paskola

The farm was set up in 2017 as a mixed organic - environmentally friendly farm. Most of the farm is located in the Meteliai Regional Park, in protected landscape and biodiversity areas.

The farm has taken over the traditions of a family that has been farming in the area for 200 years and will pass them on to future generations. However, in order to be competitive, the farm has grown in 5 years from a dozen hectares of land taken over to around 150 hectares today, most of which is owned. Cereal crops (wheat, buckwheat and oats) are grown only for their own use as feed and for crop rotation. On arable land, protein feed crops for cattle (clover, grass mixtures) are sown mainly, while grassland is hayed and grazed. All these activities are carried out in accordance with the rules for the management of Natura 2000 sites.

The farm has a complete herd of purebred Angus Aberdeen cattle of good genetic quality, totalling over 60 heads. Pure-bred Lithuanian hen geese and cross-bred ducks are also reared as ancillary production. Around 500 of these birds are produced and marketed. Pure-bred Lithuanian coarse sheep (over 30 head) are also kept for grounds maintenance. The farm is a member of the Lithuanian Livestock Breeders' associations. The farm is advised on livestock development by renowned breeding experts from the Institute of Animal Breeding of the Lithuanian University of Health Sciences. In addition to family members, the farm employs 2 full-time wage earners.

The farm has a leased John Deere tractor (5 series, 4 years old) and has purchased some of its own new implements through National Paying Agnecy programmes during the start-up phase. However, it purchases a large part of its tillage services from other farmers and enterprises. An investment project was therefore prepared for the EU support programme, which was successful in obtaining 118 000 € in EU support. The project will lead to the completion of own machinery for tillage and quality forage preparation. The farm's landholding and the number of livestock and poultry are expected to continue to increase several-fold.

The ultimate goal of the farm's development is to participate in cooperative and direct food supply chains, selling high quality produce directly to consumers, and exporting an increasing share of it. The farm already participates in the Ekoagros organic certification programme, with part of its production certified as organic and the rest expected to be certified this year. Genetic research on the breeding cattle has also been started in cooperation with scientists from VMU and LSMU, and the herd will be further expanded in order to create one of the Baltic region's best breeding and export herds. The farm also plans to increase its participation in programmes to maintain natural diversity by attracting additional funding. Services are already being provided to the Metellus Regional Park Administration, but the expertise and technical capacity in this area is set to expand as environmental protection is increasingly being addressed by the EU's agricultural policy.