Climate challenges combined with very high input prices and environmental targets have placed farming communities throughout Europe under increasing pressure to ensure they are getting the most out of their time and money.
That is according to Ola Drevås, a Swedish farmer who grows various crops including sugerbeets, wheat and malt barley on his 1,000ha Bjällerups Maskinstation farm in Skåne.
Last year his harvest included 10.4t/ha of wheat, 9.7t/ha and 90t/ha of sugarbeets, but Drevås is facing a decrease of about 35% in his total 2023 harvest because of drought conditions in Sweden.
This is one of the reasons why he is currently investigating and exploring any opportunities to support his core farming business including investing in a new irrigation system “to handle future drought periods better”.
Under the current Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) Sweden has put a strong emphasis on “innovation” in agriculture for sustainable production and biodiversity.
There are an estimated 59,000 farms in Sweden with most, an average size of almost 50ha.
Sweden’s agricultural sector has a limited number of crops and a large dairy herd, similar to Ireland, but it has major differences in production conditions between the north and the south of the country.
Dairy and meat production account for one third of total agricultural production in Sweden while crop production accounts for around 40%.
In the south of the country where Drevås farms forestry, cattle and arable farming dominate the landscape.
Under the current CAP the Swedish government wants to “increase the productivity, viability and competitiveness” of the agricultural sector.
But more than 19% of land currently farmed will come under “contracts for biodiversity” as part of Sweden’s Rural Development Programme and this will be a key challenge for farmers like Drevås.
He firmly believes that European farmers, regardless of their location whether they operate in Sweden or Ireland, must constantly be looking for new ways to improve yields.
“For me it is about ensuring that I am not wasting my resources – that I am not using fertiliser unnecessarily, that I am planting the right crop for the right soil type and that I am ensuring that I get the best crop growth, yield and quality,” he said.
This may help to explain why Drevås has embraced precision farming – a method which aims to “make every hectare count” – by tailoring seed to soil type and by only applying fertiliser where it is needed most.
Drevås believes this not only promotes sustainable farming but also gives him more “control” over his farm business.
“We need to be always looking for ways to grow our farm, to protect our farm and to examine what our crops need,” he said.
Although he lives and farms today in southern Sweden, Drevås has also farmed in the US and the Ukraine and he built these experiences in to the day-to-day running of his farm.
He believes that the challenges now facing farmers are the same regardless of the location.
“We’re all looking to the future, we are all concerned about the climate and everyday we are thinking about the costs, what adjustments we need to make, what investments we need – particularly if we need new machinery,” Drevås added.
He said this prompted his decision to team up with a company that provides specialised technical and agronomic services to farmers – Soyl Sweden.
According to Hans Alvemar, managing director of Soyl Sweden, the “unpredictability” of farming in 2023 is why farmers are looking for additional tools to “secure more favourable outcomes”.
The range of services that his company provides includes soil mapping and the production of tailored maps for seeding and fertiliser distribution.
“Farmers need to attend to all of the details, with the risks that we see from fertiliser prices going up and the weather – there are a lot of challenges.
“What we do helps farmers to stay in economic control and full control because they are delivering their inputs in the right place to make money from them,” Alvemar said.
In the case of the 1,000ha farmed by Ola Drevås, Soyl AB has produced soil sampling, mapping, soil data interpretation and produced recommendations which then enabled Drevås and his team to apply a field-specific application of phosphorus, potassium and lime.
The company also uses images from satellites to measure nitrogen requirement throughout the growing season with a vegetation index.
In Sweden farmers can benefit from additional funding if they can reduce nutrient leakage from arable land and increase carbon storage in the soil.
Currently under Sweden’s CAP up to 9,000 farmers are being “encouraged” to use digital tools to apply the “precise amounts of nutrients” required by their crops.
It has been estimated by the Swedish government that this could help avoid “leakage and pollution” of the groundwater on up to 1.4 million ha each year.
According to Alvemar this approach is part of the country’s “green recovery” strategy and supports more environmentally climate-friendly practices which is why more farmers are turning to precision farming in Sweden.
“We take into account soil mapping results, harvest level, crop rotation, soil type, and if organic fertilisers are used and then we can direct fertilisation to areas with low values to ensure that yields are always maximimised.
“This often leads to savings for farmers in the amount of fertiliser they have to purchase because we can identify exactly where there is a need for fertiliser and where it is not needed.
“We have also provided other services to farmers like Ola so that they can adapt the amount of seed that they need to plant and also know what cultivation depth is best according to the soil type to ensure he has the right conditions for a good harvest.
“Farming overall now is high risk and what farmers need to do is try and reduce these risks as much as possible,” he said.