IFAJ 45^th Annual Congress 8-13 September 2001, Savonlinna, Finland

Northern quality in grain production

Ensio Hytönen

CEO

Hankkija-Maatalous Oy Ltd

In Finland grain crops are farmed under extreme conditions. In fact, nowhere else in the world are grains farmed at such a high latitude. Over 90% of the arable land in neighbouring Sweden and over 50% in Norway are found to the south of Hankoniemi, which is Finland’s southernmost point. On a global map, Finland is at the same latitude as Greenland and further north than the Alaskan peninsula as a whole.

Finland’s short growing season requires crop varieties that fully advantage each and every day. Due to Finland’s northerly clime, processed products from Central Europe cannot be used in farming.

Finnish farming boasts many strengths. Finnish grains are pure. Harsh winters and hard frost serve to reduce the number of plant diseases; plant protection agents are very rarely used in Finland. There are few heavy metals present in Finnish soils. All grains harvested in Finland are dried in grain dryers, which translates into a high level of hygiene. There are no problems with moisture in the grains. Furthermore, all links in the grain chain are top professionals in their respective fields: the technical quality of the grain is of the highest order.

In Finland the area of arable land under cultivation is 2.2 million hectares. Approximately half of the arable land (1.2 million hectares) is used to grow grain crops. The average Finnish farm has a crop area of 28 hectares. This year, the total harvest for Finland is expected to yield approximately 3.9 billion kg of produce.

In Finland the logistical chain for grain crops has been highly developed. 90% of the grain crops are transported directly from the farm to the end user or port. Finnish farms have on average enough storage capacity to contain their entire season’s yield.

Agrimarket, an agricultural co-operative chain, is based on contract production. The farmer enters into a farming agreement with the co-operative store. Contract operations are based on the intended use of the farmer’s produce, where the farmer decides for what purpose his grain crop will be used. Such uses are malting barley, feed barley and oats, premium wheat, foodstuffs oats and organic grains. The purpose of the co-operative store is to channel each grain lot to its optimal use and ensure that the customer gets the best possible price. Contract operations also facilitate the tracking of various grain lots.

In regards to rye and wheat Finland is nearly self-sufficient. Each year, only a small percentage of the demand for rye and wheat is met with imported produce. Barley and oats are exported, with Finland being renowned as an oats exporter. Indeed, oats are the most important export grain crop. Finland is one of the ‘Big Four’ oats producing countries, together with the United States, Canada and Sweden. Finnish oats are recognised throughout the world as being of high quality. White oats, which have a high hectolitre weight and large grain size, are exported in significant quantities for use in the foodstuffs industry in EU internal and external markets. Oats are also exported throughout the world for use as feed. The Agrimarket chain is Finland’s largest exporter of oats.

The Agrimarket chain’s grain market possesses an ISO 9002-compliant quality management certificate. Finnish farms also operate in accordance with quality management principles. The objective is that each and every Finnish farm have a functional quality management system by the year 2006. The Agrimarket chain is involved in providing quality training for farms.

Ensio Hytönen

CEO

Company: Hankkija-Maatalous Oy Ltd

Licentiate in Agriculture-Forestry Sciences

Age: 49 years

Mr. Hytönen is CEO of Hankkija-Maatalous Oy Ltd., the leading agribusiness wholesale company in Finland. Hytönen has worked in both the meat and dairy industries.