Traditional main building

Finnish horse

Finnish cattle

Organic oats

Elk-hunting

Finland - country of thousands of lakes

Year of entry to EU: 1995
Political system: Republic
Capital city: Helsinki
Total area: 338 000 km²
Population: 5.1 million

Currency: Euro

Special about Finland is the clear change of the seasons. At spring the sun starts to shine and the days get longer. Snow starts to melt and nature prepares for the growing season. At midsummer the sun doesn’t go down at all so. End of June people celebrate Midsummers festival. The cattle go outside on pasture. The silage is made two times a year, at midsummer and end of July. Finnish summer would perfect without mosquitoes!

In the autumn the hunting season begins. Days are getting shorter and colder. The winters are snowy and cold. Couple of years ago there was minus 51,5 degrees  in North Finland but luckily that's rare. In winter time we don’t have any plant production. Usually farmers work with forestry.

 There are about 75 500 active farms in Finland, about  20 000 of them are dairy farms. The amount of big farms (>40 milking cows) has risen from 60 to 700 between the years 1995-2002.

Typical Finnish farm:

·        28 ha field

·        54 ha forest

·        18 dairy cows

·        stall stable

·        average milk production yearly is about 8 500 kg

·        2-3 tractors most popular is Valtra

·         48 years old farmer

·        farmers are usually married couple

·        farmers don’t work outside the farm

·        distance between farms and neighbors is long (~3km)

·        distance to public services is also long (15-20km)

·        farmers have the right for the paid vacation offered by the municipality

·        most of the farms buildings are wooden

Dairy cattle in Finland

Ayrshire

comes from Scotland  

·        72% of the cows in dairy farms

·        8 010kg average milk production in year

·        4,39% fat

·        3,48% protein

·        550kg average weight

·        record of the yearly production 19 000kg

Holstein-Friesian

World’s most common dairy race.

·        26,9% of the cows in dairy farms

·        8 507 average milk production in year

·        4,01% fat

·        3,37% protein

·        588kg average weight

·        record of the yearly production over 20 000kg

Finnish cattle

are based on original native breed. It is split in three types called Western Finland cattle, Eastern Finland cattle and Northern Finland cattle.

·        2 779 cows

·        6 130 average milk production in year

·        4,45% fat

·        3,48% protein

·        520kg average weight

·        record yearly production over 15 500kg

Production in general

Typical cow stable is a stall-stable. Past ten years the loose-stall stables have come more popular, because the number of cows has risen.

The Ayrshire has been the most popular race in Finland through the decades but nowadays the Friesian has come more and more popular. One reason for that is the udder structure; the Friesians are better to keep in loose stall-stable. Of course, the Friesians also in general milk more.

Loose stall-stables advantages (for examples)

• Better working circumstances
• Easier milking system
• Possibility to rise the number of cows
• Natural behavior
• Easier to recognize heat

Stall-stables advantages (for examples)

·        Individual care (the cows have names! not numbers!)

·        Easier to inseminate and medicate

·        More specific udder healthcare

·        Clean environment

·        Easier to follow animals individually, for example eating

Page updated 21.11.2005