Finnish farmer develops higher-yielding, sturdier grain varieties

Farmer Niilo Salo in Loimaa is developing grain varieties that produce higher yields and are less prone to lodging, as changing growing seasons increase the need for crops that remain resilient and uniform in difficult conditions, Yle reports.

Seed development can also reduce the risk of crops lodging, or falling over. “There are no varieties that never lodge or always lodge, but varieties that are more prone to lodging and varieties that are less prone to lodging,” Salo said.

Farmers have been invited to Salo’s farm to learn about the new seeds. Agriculture and Forestry Minister Sari Essayah visited the farm’s experimental plots on Monday and said Finnish farmers would have a growing role in global food security.

“In Finland, we are primarily responsible for our own self-sufficiency, but I believe that Finnish farmers will also have a significantly greater role and responsibility for global food security in the future,” Essayah said.

Essayah said she was concerned about the state of global food security over the winter. Drought has damaged harvests in southern Europe, while Russia’s war against Ukraine continues and grain storage facilities are being deliberately bombed.

Finland’s grain harvest is expected to total about 3.2 billion kilograms this year, around 3 per cent below average. The rye harvest will not cover annual consumption, while the pea harvest is expected to be a record. About one-third of the oat harvest is expected to be exported, according to the Natural Resources Institute Finland.

Confidence in the future of agriculture has remained strong at Salo’s seed farm. A generational transfer is under way, and a large investment is reflected in the rows of large grain silos.

Most of the winter grains have been harvested, and the harvesting of spring grains has begun. The winter grain harvest was disappointing, but the spring grains are expected to produce a good crop, with excellent quality.

“Harvest time is always the most enjoyable time when we get good-quality grain and good yields,” Salo said.

Salo expects grain prices to rise. “They have already risen on the exchange, and we hope the domestic market will follow. Finland will certainly be among the winners. We do not get 40-degree heatwaves here like in Europe,” he said.

African swine fever has created additional concerns during the harvest season. Farmers in south-eastern Finland’s disease control zone faced uncertainty before the harvest because the main grain buyers announced that they would not buy or accept grain from the zone.

Essayah said the Finnish Food Authority and industry representatives had found solutions, and grain trading resumed last week. She said the latest cases had been found in the core zone, which was becoming increasingly well defined. She hoped the area could eventually be fenced off and the remaining infected wild boars eliminated.

In south-western Finland, rye fields suffered during the winter, according to Aarne Lehtonen, chair of the regional farmers’ association MTK Varsinais-Suomi. The situation is similar in Satakunta, while sugar beet crops have suffered from rain.