With many of the cropping areas in Romania receiving between 400 and 500mm of rainfall annually, it is hardly surprising that irrigation can bring big benefits. Because rainfall is generally in deficit, it is expressed differently – in litres/m2 rather than mm/cm2. The actual number is the same but it refers to something different. Ten milimetres in our world is 10l/m2 or 100,000 l/ha.
In Soviet days, irrigation was commonplace and publicly supported. Since then, it has fallen back into private hands and now lacks investment to keep it functioning. There is no scarcity of water for irrigation but the infrastructure to do it needs considerable investment.
This week I bring you another report from visits on the ITLUS tour to Romania, the home of the Dacia car.
The EU’s largest farm
At 57,600ha, the Insula Mare a Brailei farm is regarded as the biggest farm in the EU with all its land in a single block. The farm is actually part of a 79,000ha island, 67,000ha of which is arable, in the Danube River just south of the town of Braila which is just west of the delta.
The island business was operated by a Romanian company called Agricos, which is linked with an entrepreneur called Constantin Dulute. The business was since said to be sold to the Dahra Group from the United Arab Emirates. They are said to have bought a majority share in the farm business for a reported €200m. This does not include the purchase of the land, which is leased from the state on a 20-year contract.
The farm is certainly an island with access by ferry only. The current farm business was founded in 2002 but the land had not been farmed for 12 years before that.
It now produces around 500ha of niche vegetable crops, as well as around 20,000ha of wheat, 12,000ha of maize and roughly 5,000ha each of sunflowers and soya beans, plus a quantity of alfalfa to be exported to Saudi Arabia and some oilseed rape.
Rainfall in the area is 450-500mm per annum and irrigation is used to support the production of some crops. But the water table is quite high and most of the land is only 2m above river level, with the highest point on the island being 19m.
There are nine major channels on the island to supply water for irrigation. It is anticipated that the new business owners will invest significantly in irrigation equipment and facilities which will increase overall production capacity.
Because of the high water table, all machines that work on the land are on tracks and most are fitted with precision farming tackle and auto steer. Most of the land is min-tilled. There are an estimated 900 employees on the farm, which includes up to 150 agronomists.
There are 30 big tractors from 400 to 650hp, plus 40 at 180hp and 35 at 150hp. Some are owned, others are leased and John Deere and Challenger are the main brands. There are also more than 40 combines on the farm, with others hired in at harvest time.
There are animals on the island but these are owned by private landowners.
The farm has four large grain storage bins located at its ferry port on the banks of the Danube. About 70% of its grains are sold around harvest and loaded directly on to ships to the Black Sea. The remaining 30% of farm output is stored for subsequent sale.
As was the case on many other farms, there is considerable resentment to the CAP proposal to cap individual farm payments. As many farms are companies, it seems that they are prevented from dividing up to minimise the impact of capping. The people at Insula Mare also said that they do utilise EU grants because the application process is too bureaucratic and cumbersome.
Panifcom farms and dairy
Just northeast of the town of Iasi we visited a 4,000ha arable and livestock farm operated by Panifcom SRL. Here the owner. Liviu Balanici and his farm manager Catalin Parii gave a rundown on the business. About 90% of the land area is rented and payment is related to the value of a tonne of maize or wheat. Bigger units tend to get higher prices. Liviu told us that he has 2,000 rental agreements in place.
The main focus of our visit was the 1,400-cow dairy unit. Cows were permanently indoors and milking takes place three times daily, all year round. The cow houses were fitted with both vertical and horizontal fans and Liviu commented that the vertical fans were more effective at keeping the cows cool.
Calving takes place all year round and Liviu said that there would always be over 650 cows milking. Interestingly, he told us that cows averaged a 305-day lactation but the calving interval was 403 days. The average number of lactations per cow was 3.7, with cows calving every day and about 80 calves per month.
Calf pens on the Panifcom farm are elevated over the ground and a yard scraper operates beneath them.
As well as the cows, the business also has pig production and the combined slurries are very useful for crop production. But the farm functions as individual units where the grain or silage or forage is sold between the farms, with the slurry sold from the livestock units. The slurry is put through a separation unit with the solids spread and the liquid used for irrigation.
The farm unit we visited was about 2,500ha, with roughly 1,000ha irrigated. This is a dry region with high summer temperatures and when we arrived in late June they had received virtually no precipitation since the snow in March.
The crops grown include maize (for grain and silage), soya beans, alfalfa, wheat, barley and triticale. Some of the cereals are grown for seed production. Liviu said that average yields are around 6 t/ha for wheat, 3.5 t/ha for oilseed rape and 10 t/ha for maize. But maize yields vary with or without irrigation. In a dry year, maize might yield 6-7 t/ha but this could jump to 13 t/ha with irrigation. And maize for silage could be up to 50 t/ha.
Profitability remains a challenge, Liviu said. He put his breakeven yield for maize at 9t/ha with 7t/ha for wheat and 3.5 t/ha for soya beans.
The farm sells about 10,000t of maize plus 3,000-4,000t wheat. Some wheat is milled in the mill on the farm and this also purchases flour for its bakery. They also use about 3,000t of straw, mainly for bedding cows, and this is all baled in big square bales.
They spend about five hours per day milking. The milk processor is about 300km away.
In late June, the collected milk price was €0.31/l and this increases to €0.36/l during winter. All calves are sold at three weeks of age and these normally go to the Netherlands.
Liviu uses crop insurance at a cost of roughly €30/ha. However, the cover is for hail damage only and it does not cover drought which would be very common in that region. Irrigation is possible and there are no real restrictions but it is expensive given that the whole process is now privatised.
Main points
The 57,600ha farm on Insula Mara is said to be biggest joined-up farm in the EU. Rainfall is yield-limiting and so irrigation is used.The cows on the Panifcom Farm have a long calving interval.Many different crops are grown to feed the cows.
With many of the cropping areas in Romania receiving between 400 and 500mm of rainfall annually, it is hardly surprising that irrigation can bring big benefits. Because rainfall is generally in deficit, it is expressed differently – in litres/m2 rather than mm/cm2. The actual number is the same but it refers to something different. Ten milimetres in our world is 10l/m2 or 100,000 l/ha.
In Soviet days, irrigation was commonplace and publicly supported. Since then, it has fallen back into private hands and now lacks investment to keep it functioning. There is no scarcity of water for irrigation but the infrastructure to do it needs considerable investment.
This week I bring you another report from visits on the ITLUS tour to Romania, the home of the Dacia car.
The EU’s largest farm
At 57,600ha, the Insula Mare a Brailei farm is regarded as the biggest farm in the EU with all its land in a single block. The farm is actually part of a 79,000ha island, 67,000ha of which is arable, in the Danube River just south of the town of Braila which is just west of the delta.
The island business was operated by a Romanian company called Agricos, which is linked with an entrepreneur called Constantin Dulute. The business was since said to be sold to the Dahra Group from the United Arab Emirates. They are said to have bought a majority share in the farm business for a reported €200m. This does not include the purchase of the land, which is leased from the state on a 20-year contract.
The farm is certainly an island with access by ferry only. The current farm business was founded in 2002 but the land had not been farmed for 12 years before that.
It now produces around 500ha of niche vegetable crops, as well as around 20,000ha of wheat, 12,000ha of maize and roughly 5,000ha each of sunflowers and soya beans, plus a quantity of alfalfa to be exported to Saudi Arabia and some oilseed rape.
Rainfall in the area is 450-500mm per annum and irrigation is used to support the production of some crops. But the water table is quite high and most of the land is only 2m above river level, with the highest point on the island being 19m.
There are nine major channels on the island to supply water for irrigation. It is anticipated that the new business owners will invest significantly in irrigation equipment and facilities which will increase overall production capacity.
Because of the high water table, all machines that work on the land are on tracks and most are fitted with precision farming tackle and auto steer. Most of the land is min-tilled. There are an estimated 900 employees on the farm, which includes up to 150 agronomists.
There are 30 big tractors from 400 to 650hp, plus 40 at 180hp and 35 at 150hp. Some are owned, others are leased and John Deere and Challenger are the main brands. There are also more than 40 combines on the farm, with others hired in at harvest time.
There are animals on the island but these are owned by private landowners.
The farm has four large grain storage bins located at its ferry port on the banks of the Danube. About 70% of its grains are sold around harvest and loaded directly on to ships to the Black Sea. The remaining 30% of farm output is stored for subsequent sale.
As was the case on many other farms, there is considerable resentment to the CAP proposal to cap individual farm payments. As many farms are companies, it seems that they are prevented from dividing up to minimise the impact of capping. The people at Insula Mare also said that they do utilise EU grants because the application process is too bureaucratic and cumbersome.
Panifcom farms and dairy
Just northeast of the town of Iasi we visited a 4,000ha arable and livestock farm operated by Panifcom SRL. Here the owner. Liviu Balanici and his farm manager Catalin Parii gave a rundown on the business. About 90% of the land area is rented and payment is related to the value of a tonne of maize or wheat. Bigger units tend to get higher prices. Liviu told us that he has 2,000 rental agreements in place.
The main focus of our visit was the 1,400-cow dairy unit. Cows were permanently indoors and milking takes place three times daily, all year round. The cow houses were fitted with both vertical and horizontal fans and Liviu commented that the vertical fans were more effective at keeping the cows cool.
Calving takes place all year round and Liviu said that there would always be over 650 cows milking. Interestingly, he told us that cows averaged a 305-day lactation but the calving interval was 403 days. The average number of lactations per cow was 3.7, with cows calving every day and about 80 calves per month.
Calf pens on the Panifcom farm are elevated over the ground and a yard scraper operates beneath them.
As well as the cows, the business also has pig production and the combined slurries are very useful for crop production. But the farm functions as individual units where the grain or silage or forage is sold between the farms, with the slurry sold from the livestock units. The slurry is put through a separation unit with the solids spread and the liquid used for irrigation.
The farm unit we visited was about 2,500ha, with roughly 1,000ha irrigated. This is a dry region with high summer temperatures and when we arrived in late June they had received virtually no precipitation since the snow in March.
The crops grown include maize (for grain and silage), soya beans, alfalfa, wheat, barley and triticale. Some of the cereals are grown for seed production. Liviu said that average yields are around 6 t/ha for wheat, 3.5 t/ha for oilseed rape and 10 t/ha for maize. But maize yields vary with or without irrigation. In a dry year, maize might yield 6-7 t/ha but this could jump to 13 t/ha with irrigation. And maize for silage could be up to 50 t/ha.
Profitability remains a challenge, Liviu said. He put his breakeven yield for maize at 9t/ha with 7t/ha for wheat and 3.5 t/ha for soya beans.
The farm sells about 10,000t of maize plus 3,000-4,000t wheat. Some wheat is milled in the mill on the farm and this also purchases flour for its bakery. They also use about 3,000t of straw, mainly for bedding cows, and this is all baled in big square bales.
They spend about five hours per day milking. The milk processor is about 300km away.
In late June, the collected milk price was €0.31/l and this increases to €0.36/l during winter. All calves are sold at three weeks of age and these normally go to the Netherlands.
Liviu uses crop insurance at a cost of roughly €30/ha. However, the cover is for hail damage only and it does not cover drought which would be very common in that region. Irrigation is possible and there are no real restrictions but it is expensive given that the whole process is now privatised.
Main points
The 57,600ha farm on Insula Mara is said to be biggest joined-up farm in the EU. Rainfall is yield-limiting and so irrigation is used.The cows on the Panifcom Farm have a long calving interval.Many different crops are grown to feed the cows. 
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