Agriculture, Analytics, Financial Services, Investments, Latvia, Loan

Respondents in the survey mostly plan on spending the loaned money on drying-kilns and grain elevators. Some farms are upgrading their equipment, and interest in buying up agricultural land also remains strong, the survey reveals.

Farmers need modern technologies in order to boost their international competitiveness. “Farmers agree that the cutting-edge technological solutions increase efficiency. The popularity of technology is basically promoted by the requirements for the absorption of EU funding. Most often, farmers choose to acquire GPS systems, nitrogen detectors and automatic fuel monitors,” said Swedbank’s agricultural expert Raimonds Miltins, adding that drones are being increasingly used for aerial surveillance of farmlands and more and more farmers are buying their own weather stations.

The Swedbank survey suggests that those farmers that cultivate between 200 hectares and more than 1,000 hectares of farmland are most likely to aim for turnover and profit growth this year. Most of these large farms are situated in the central Latvian province of Zemgale, which is also one of the most profitable provinces. In recent years, a hectare of farmland in Zemgale has been generating on average EUR 330 before taxes and amortization, as compared to EUR 280 in Kurzeme and EUR 250 in Latgale.

Also, nearly half of respondents the poll said they planned to increase wages for their employees, but that like in other sectors of the Latvian economy farmers are also feeling a shortage of skilled labor.