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The Furrow

Author:
Jerry Simon­sson

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.

All arti­cles by Jerry Simon­sson:


 

Making More by Brand Creation

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.

Harvesters

A Win – Win co-oper­a­tion

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.

Farmers are taking measures to offset high costs

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.

Ideas For Healthy Bees

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.

Green Protein from grass

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.

Unfolding hidden treasures

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 turned into fertiliser gold

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.

The vine­yard goes north

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. 

Making Protein out of a Feather

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.

Storing water to cope with droughts

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.

The Furrow on paper

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