NetNews@IFAJ2001
September 12th,2001

- The Järvikylä Manor – 3,7 hectares of lettuce in pots

- Organic Milk from Muumaa

- Lappala  farm raises the output by embryo transfers

- Night Milk gives you a better sleep

 - SATURDAY 
   8.9.2001
 - SUNDAY 
   9.9.2001
- MONDAY 
   10.9.2001
- TUESDAY 
   11.9.2001

The Järvikylä Manor – 3,7 hectares of lettuce in pots
11.55am

Half of the congress quests did a trip to the Järvikylä Manor which have somewhat 3,7 hectares of greenhouse area. The lettuce production in pots started in 1987. Nowadays their production consist 4 types of lettuces and 24 different herb species. All of them are produced in pots which are filled with peat.

The Manor’s business strategy stands on three legs. One of them is farming. There are 200 hectares of fields and 600 hectares of forest. The company produces also turf which is sold mainly to domestic markets. Turf is used in soccer fields and also in home gardening. Third sector is lettuce and herb production. The annual production of potted lettuce is about 12 million pieces.

“Our share of the markets is app. 30%. We grow lettuces hydroponically which means that we flush roots of lettuces all the time on a specially made growing tables. One pot of lettuce costs about 7 FIM to a customer. Our share of that price is 3 or 4 FIM. Our total turnover is 45 million FIM”, marketing manager Jukka Pehkonen said. Text: Petri Manssila

Production cycle of a turf is two years. Depending on how many squaremeters you want to buy it, costs/m² will be 12 - 20 FIM tax included. After the nursery stage pots are moved into growing rooms. Young plants are put on moving tables. It takes about six weeks before herbs and lettuces are harvested and packed into plastic, transparent bags. Products are sold in over a hundred supermarkets all over the country.

Organic Milk from Muumaa
12.30pm

Two years ago three farmers at Juva connected their resources and established a common organic milk producing cow house called Muumaa. The owners are Anssi Laamanen, Kimmo Seppänen and Heikki Teittinen with their families. CEO is Heli Ahonen.

The farm has 78 cows, the aim is 100. The average yield per year is 7.500 kilos.

The feeding bases on the organic silage and organic grain produced on 220 hectares, owned by the farms. The fields are manured by silt.

The milk is sold to The Juva Organic Dairy. The extra price of organic milk is 0,35 FIM/liter. The organic products of the dairy are yoghurt and milk. The turnover of the dairy was last year 8,7 million FIM.

Lappala  farm raises the output by embryo transfers

Jussi and Anna Lappalainen from Siilinjärvi are using embryo transfers to raise the productivity. They aim to increase milk production 10.000 lg per cow per year by 2007. Now the yield is 8200 kg per year. They use both domestic, Dutch and French Holstein ebryos. "In USA there are top embryos, but they are too expensive", Anna says. "We are satisfied with the amount of cows, 55, but whe want to produce more milk and buy more forest", the couple says.

Lappala farm has a quality management system. Farmers pay a great attention to the animal health.

Anna and Jussi bought the farm fourteen years ago from Jussi's parents. Then there were 17 dairy cows and 139 hectares of forest. Now the amount of cows has almost tripled and the forest area is 243 hectares. The avarage milk price is  2 FIM/liter, the main difference before and after EU is according to Anna, that the yields have grown, but the unit prices have gone down. Both are afraid of what happens to the prices when the eastern European countries will join Eu

Text Riitta Mustonen
Photos Anita Lampinen

Night Milk gives you a better sleep

Co-operative dairy Maitomaa (Milk Country) in Suonenjoki is producing Night Milk (Yömaito) which has two to five times higher melatonin contents than normal milk. Melatonin is a hormone with relaxing effect and it functions as an antioxidant, too. It affects to sleep rhythm. Its secretion volume changes accoring to day time and is highest in dark. In humans its secretion starts at the age of 3 months and its highest in puberty, then it slopes down.

Antti-Pekka Kangas and Jouni Naskali told the journalists about Maitomaa and Night Milk

Researcher Antti-Pekka kangas from Kuopio University tells they have got promising results from animal testing and they continue by human tests. They have gained results with amounts of 3,5 deciliters per day. When elderly people drink night milk there is no instant effect, but they fell in a better sleep after a week use. "We are not sure how it works, but it works with melatonin sensitive persons".  

In Northen Savo there are twenty farmers who produce night milk. They have been trained for it and they have made changes in their cow houses. The extra price of night milk is 0,35 FIM per litre. The consumer pays 5 FIM per liter, it means 25% extra.

To journalists Antti-Pekka gave a hint based on his personal experience: "Night Milk is good to hang over. Alcohol decreases melatonin, so drink this before you go to sleep after a heavy night."

Text Riitta Mustonen
Photos Anita Lampinen

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