Food from the farms

Estonia currently has around two hundred factory farms which produce and sell tasty and high-quality Estonian food to industries and shops across the country. In addition to the factory farms there are thousands of smaller farms which offer their delicious produce mainly on a variety of markets, festivals and fairs, but also in selected shops. Majority of the farms produce various dairy and meat product, syrups and conserves, but there are also cultivators of vegetables and other cultures. Farms specialised in cattle raising mainly focus on rearing pigs, bovine animals, or sheep, etc. Plant production farms try to grow a wider variety of plants for more efficient operation – if the potato crop fails, then profiting from grain or vegetable farming will keep the farm afloat… Recent years have put more spotlight on organic farming. With organic products, the entire production process must adhere to the strict requirements of organic farming – the basic product must be grown without synthetic repellents and fertilisers, all components must come from organic farming, the producers of the products must have concluded a training course on handling organic foods and the organic foods must not be in contact with non-organic foods in any stage of production. Although many factory farms have very long traditions, their production and management methods have changed dramatically over the past decades. An increasing amount of the work load is covered by mechanical devices, which has allowed to dramatically boost the productiveness of the farms. Today’s farmers must not only be skilled in land cultivation and cattle rearing, but they also need to be wise businessmen who do not mind doing paperwork alongside physical labour. Today’s production farms are subject to very strict quality and food safety requirements, so in addition to knowing these regulations, the farmers have to be able to keep track of the work done and food produced in the farm on a daily basis.