Jerry Simonsson has a long experience in writing for agricultural magazines and newspapers and has covered all from farm life and farm economy to global trade issues and global ag economy. He currently works as a freelance writer, specializing in farming and finance journalism.
Creating your own food brand based on your farm’s produce can be a challenging but rewarding journey, as arable farmer Thomas Björklund and other Swedish farmers can attest.
Contractor and farmer Benny Nilsson has been working together with the local John Deere dealership in Stenkyrka, Gotland for over 45 years and counting. The long relationship has been a fruitful one, not only for them, but for Mr Nilsson’s clients as well.
Swedish farmers have experienced a 25% increase in input costs over the past year, and while higher farmgate prices have helped offset some of the inflation, farm businesses are now re-evaulating earlier strategies and implementing new measures to combat costs.
Bees are important for the environment and for crop production. However, agriculture is often blamed for a decline in bee numbers. But there are several initiatives in the agricultural sector to counteract the death of bees. We took a closer look at some of them.
Soya imports are becoming more and more expensive and get increasingly criticised, especially for organic livestock farms. In Scandinavia, feed and seed manufacturers are about to commercialize a protein feed concentrate made from grass, clover, and alfalfa for non-ruminants such as pigs and poultry.
Farmer Thomas Björklund in Sköldinge, Sweden, previously pioneered farm practices which have become established trends. Now, he has teamed up with medical doctor Kerstin Fredlund to turn indigenous grain varieties into superfood via a hydrothermal process.
Wastewater minus water and contaminants equals a very potent, and more importantly, recycled, fertiliser. The Swedish company EkoBalans aims to capitalise on this as it develops a more sustainable NPK fertiliser.
Swedish vineyards are growing in number and in quality, despite unfavourable climatic and commercial conditions. With warming climes, winegrowers intend to put the Scandinavian country on the map of European vineyards within a few years.
While conducting his field doctorate research, Dr Mohammad H A Ibrahim came across an interesting bacterium at a poultry farm in Egypt. Now it is part of a process producing high-grade feed protein and bio-degradable plastics from waste organic matter.
Farmers in Sweden, France and Germany are striving to retain water when there is plenty available so they can use it during dry summer months. Water is stored in ponds, marshes, or in the ground. The Furrow reports.