Products

In Southern Finland, the ground is covered with snow for 3 to 4 months and in Northern Finland for 7 months. In the south the soil is frozen solid for 2 to 5 months and in the north for 8 months. The location of the different production lines and use of arable land are dictated by the climatic conditions in a particular region. Thus, most crop production farms are in the south, whereas cattle breeding is concentrated in central, eastern and northern parts. Though milk is produced all over Finland, even in the northernmost parts of Lapland, the main production areas are in Ostrobothnia, Pohjois-Savo and North Karelia, which account for more than half of all the milk produced in Finland. Pig and poultry farming are concentrated in the west and south, and most cereals come from Southern and South-Western Finland. Fodder cereals can be grown all over the country, except for the extreme north.

In 2000 the number of active farms that received income support was 77,896, and agriculture employed almost 118,000 persons, i.e. a little over 5 % of the employed labour force. The number of people working in the food processing industry is more than 40,000, and 150,000 people work elsewhere in the food sector. Most of the Finnish agricultural products come from family farms. 88 per cent of farms receiving support (active farms) belong to private persons and 11 per cent to estates and family enterprises. The rest are owned by cooperatives, corporations, companies, the Finnish Government, local authorities and parishes. The average age of farmers is 48 years, full-time farmers being younger than those farming part-time.

About half of the farms receiving agricultural support practice crop production as their main production line. Most of these produce cereals (72 %), a little over a fifth (22 %) cultivate other crops and the rest (6 %) practice horticulture. Dairy production is the main production line on almost 30 % of the farms. About 7 % of the farms specialise in beef production and 6 % in pig husbandry. Among the pig farms, 30 %, specilise in raising finishing pigs, 31 % in combined production and 39 % in piglet production. The shares of poultry farms and organics farms are around 2 % each. Of the poultry farms 74 % specialise in egg production, 13 % in poultry meat production, and 13 % in breeding. About 2 % of the farms practice horse husbandry, and the shares of sheep husbandry, forestry and reindeer herding are about 1 % each.

Forest is an integral part of the Finnish farm, since 95 % of active farms own some forest. In Finland 62 % of the forest area is privately owned. In Finland agriculture and horticulture are closely linked to the industries processing acricultural and horticultural products. More than 80 % of the output of agriculture and horticulture goes to the processing of industries. Agricultural production, environmental considerations and welfare of animals are closely linked to food safety. The situation is very good in Finland, and the whole food chain works together in order to do more than their best for the quality of food (MMM, 2001)