ESTONIA
I created my own agricultural business ‘Mardimäe OÜ’ in 2015 by the side of my parents’ and brother’s farm. My father started farming organically in 2001. We have organic oats, wheat, buckwheat and 250 sheep. Mardimäe Organic Farm unites three business on 400 ha.
A young farmer must be a strong person and a hard worker with a good sense of humour. I hope the number of young farmers, organic farms and small farms (under 500 ha) will grow in my region. I think different types of farm will come.
There are a lot of challenges. It is not so easy to start. Governments and the EU say they support young farmers, but the starting subsidy is not enough. I think when renting or selling state land, preference should be given to young farmers and as well as offering hectare and investments subsidies.
I support cooperation but it is not so easy to do in all fields – it should work on the drying, sorting and selling of cereals, as well as slaughterhouse and meat marketing.