Unpaid work pushes Finnish grain farmers toward quitting

Nearly one in five Finnish grain farms has stopped growing grain or switched to other crops in four years, as farmers struggle to earn a return for their work, Yle reports. The area used to grow grain has fallen by 13 percent.

Statistics from the Natural Resources Institute Finland show that, on average, farm income from grain production is wiped out by costs. In a survey by the Central Union of Agricultural Producers and Forest Owners, 40 percent of grain farms said this autumn they were considering quitting.

Marko Korpikallio, a farmer in Mikkeli, has also considered stopping but has decided to continue for now. At Yle’s request, he calculated that growing feed wheat costs 1,151 euros per hectare and brings in 894 euros after tax and subsidies, leaving him 257 euros short. The costs do not include electricity, insurance or machinery maintenance.

Korpikallio farms just over 50 hectares and also works as a forester because his fields do not provide enough income. He says he needs outside work to pay for essentials such as seeds and fertiliser. On farms of a similar size, farming typically accounts for 15 percent of the entrepreneurial household’s income, with the rest coming from elsewhere.

He continues to farm partly because he considers producing food for city residents a matter of honour, and because his family has always farmed. He is also concerned about whether Finland could produce enough food if the country were cut off from imports, for example in a war.

Grain prices would need to double for farmers to receive the same compensation for their work as an employed agricultural worker and also earn a return on their capital, said Arto Latukka, a senior researcher at the Natural Resources Institute Finland. Because grain can be stored and transported easily, its price is set on the global market. Latukka said prices are unlikely to rise while grain remains available from abroad, and that costs would need to fall to improve profitability.

Despite the decline in grain farming, Finnish production still meets domestic demand. Latukka said production would probably remain sufficient even if 40 percent of farms quit, but the impact would depend on whether the farms leaving were small or large. He also raised concerns about food security if Finland could no longer import grain and agricultural inputs.