Finland is one of the countries of Northern Europe. This is the most eastern of the Scandinavian states. Located in the taiga forest zone of the Northern Hemisphere. It is washed by the waters of the Baltic Sea and the Gulf of Finland. The country is spread over an area of 338,430.5 km2. It is a parliamentary republic with a capital in the city of Helsinki. The number of inhabitants is 5 million 560 thousand people. According to this indicator, the country is located on 114th place. The official languages are Finnish and Swedish. It borders with Russia, Sweden and Norway. Finland's industry and agriculture are fairly well developed.
Geographic features
Finland is located in the north of Europe, including beyond the Arctic Circle. According to its natural characteristics, it is divided into 3 regions: coastal lowlands, the lake zone and the elevated northern part. The latter is characterized by low soil fertility and rather harsh climatic conditions. There you can meet both elevated areas and rocky mountains. The highest point in the country is 1324 meters.
The climate is cool, temperate, with a weak continentality (in places closer to the sea) and more continental in the north. Frequent cyclones of Atlantic origin play an important role in the formation of weather.
Climate warming is quite pronounced. So, over the past 166 years, the country has become warmer by an average of 2.3 degrees. This, of course, favorably affects agriculture, but the risk of forest fires and droughts is increasing.
Winters are relatively cold, summers are not hot. Severe frosts sometimes occur (up to minus 40-50 degrees).
About a third of the territory of Finland is covered by swamps, and 60% of the total area of the country is forest. The environmental situation is considered favorable. Enough tough environmental laws apply.
Economy
The economic situation in this country largely depends on Russia, with which Finland has traditional trade relations. Therefore, the decline in the Russian economy in recent years has hurt the Finnish economy as well. In particular, conditions for the export of Finnish products are deteriorating.
The role of agriculture is gradually decreasing. In the middle of the last century, it (together with logging) yielded more than a quarter of the gross national product, and by the beginning of the 21st century - only 3%. Now the service sector dominates. The share of industry remains in the region of 30 percent.
The main natural resource is forests. This is a traditional Finnish economy. And the main industry is steelmaking.
Finland agriculture briefly
In this country, two areas prevail: livestock and crop production. Difficult climatic conditions make farming difficult and earlier farmers were paid compensation. Due to difficult relations with Russia, problems arise with the export of agricultural products. The agricultural sectors in Finland are quite numerous.
Plant growing
The northern position of the state limits the possibilities for growing agricultural plants. Only 8% of the total area is allocated for crops, and the area of arable land is 2 million hectares. Mostly small family farms are engaged in agriculture, using the achievements of mechanization in growing plants. There are approximately 86% of the total. Some of them have been around for centuries. Gradually they become larger, and their total number is reduced. Most of the farms are located in the western half of the country. Now there are 51 575 of them.
The most common crops are: wheat, barley, rye and oats.
A significant portion of the crop is used as pet food. Forage plants are grown in large quantities: oats and barley. Moreover, the latter is growing even in the northern regions of Finland.
Only 1/10 of the total area of arable land is cereal crops. Most often it is spring wheat. Cereals are exposed to significant weather risks. In addition to them, tomatoes, peas, currants, strawberries are grown. A large role is played by planting potatoes and sugar beets. Potatoes have an important export value.
In addition to farming, Finland also collects wild berries and mushrooms. Many foreigners are involved in these works.
Growing volume of fiber hemp and hops. The latter is used to produce local beer.
Livestock
This area is the most important specialization of agriculture in Finland. It gives about 4/5 of the proceeds from the sale of all agricultural products of the country. This is also characteristic of other Scandinavian countries. In Finland, almost all types of animal husbandry are developed. Cattle, sheep, pigs, poultry, reindeer, fur-bearing animals and fish are grown. However, for certain categories of meat products, production is insufficient to meet domestic demand. This applies in particular to lamb.
During the year, the average Finn consumes 35 kg of pork, 19 kg of beef, 9 kg of poultry, 5 kg of butter, 200 liters of milk and 15 kg of cheese. These indicators remain unchanged from year to year.
Of great importance is the receipt of milk. Among the cows, the most common are 2 species: Aishir and Finnish. There are about 1.3 million pigs.
In 2012, a law banning the maintenance of laying hens in small cages came into force. As a result, every third poultry farm was closed, and egg production decreased by 1/10. At the same time, their cost has increased significantly.
The cultivation of fur animals is under the pressure of environmental organizations, but from an economic point of view it is a profitable industry, which gives significant revenue to the budget. Most animal farms are located in the western part of the country. Over 3 thousand mink skins are produced per year.
The reindeer stock numbers 200,000 animals. Over 7,000 people are involved in their breeding. When growing reindeers, there is an acute problem with predatory animals such as the wolf and the lynx. Compensation is provided to farmers in case of serious influence of these predators on the livestock of these tundra animals.
The total number of horses in the country is 60,000 individuals. Different breeds of horses are grown. Many are then used as labor.
Quality and environmental friendliness
The high quality of Finnish agricultural products is well known. Achieving good performance is a national priority. If in many countries they rely on quantity, then here - on quality. Limit the use of fertilizers. And the diet of pets must comply with accepted standards. At the same time, they try to make the conditions of their maintenance as comfortable as possible. After all, if the animal is kept in stress and dirt, then the quality of the products will be appropriate. Finnish manufacturers understand this and draw the appropriate conclusions. In our country, as a rule, these conditions are not respected and animals are kept as horrible as they are, but it is not clear what they feed. As a result, the quality of their products is much higher than ours.
Fish farming
Finland has a large number of different bodies of water with fairly clean water. Therefore, the possibilities of the fishing industry are quite significant. The total catch is about 100 thousand tons of fish per year. Of these, 15% are trout.
Milk production
This is one of Finland's most developed agricultural sectors. In 2016, 7,813 dairy farms were counted in this country, and 3,364 specialized in the cultivation of beef cattle breeds. Pig farms in Finland 1266. Revenues from the sale of dairy products account for 40% of the total agricultural sector. The milk yield of cows is gradually increasing. Now from one cow they receive several times more milk than 100 years ago. And over the past 16 years, this figure has increased from 6,800 to 8,400 liters per year.
One of the most advanced is Helena Pesonen's farm. Here, one cow gives over 9000 liters. milk per year. Such high rates are achieved thanks to the comfortable conditions that create for cows. They can walk freely throughout the year, consume high-quality natural food (grain, hay, silage, barley, protein, etc.), they are treated on time, and antibiotics are used very rarely. Food containing GMOs is prohibited. Also prohibited are hormonal drugs. One of the reasons for high milk yields, the Finns themselves consider a favorable environmental situation. With the same factor, they associate good crop yields.
Conclusion
Working in agriculture in Finland is a pretty profitable and prestigious job. Small family farms are particularly developed here. Most often they specialize in animal husbandry. In agriculture in Finland, it is of paramount importance.