How can small family farms generate sufficient added value? In line with the project's question, the OnFarm consortium visited a farm about 80 km from Prague on 11 May 2022. The dairy farm only sells three quarters of its production to a dairy. A quarter of the milk produced is processed into yoghurt and different types of cheese and sold on the farm. The good reputation of the products attracts enough customers to the remote farm and secures the income of the family business.
During the farm tour, the farmer outlined that access to knowledge about the potential of niche markets or artisanal milk processing was sometimes difficult, especially in the start-up phase of the farm. This encourages the OnFarm consortium in the creation of appropriate information and learning materials, which will be successively published free of charge on the project website.
The visit to the "Farm of the Year 2020" of the Association of Czech Private Farmers was the highlight of the two-day project meeting of the OnFarm consortium. On 10 May, progress on project implementation was already discussed. This includes the preparation of a white paper on the establishment of short chains and the planning of the case study work. Furthermore, organisational-administrative questions were discussed.
Contact at IfLS: Ulrich Gehrlein (gehrlein[at]ifls.de) and Christoph Mathias (mathias[at]ifls.de)
