North of Slovakia's southernmost and smallest mountain range, the Burda, west of the Ipeľ Hills that separate the Ipeľ from the Hron, and east of the volcanic Börzsöny mountains on the Hungarian side, lies Ekofarma Góra in the Ipeľ river valley. It farms an impressive 860 ha, 200 ha of which it owns. And in this small basin between low mountains, that is plain to see.
The well-kept farm premises lie north of the village of Salka, on the most fertile soils in the area. Deep chernozem forms here on wind-blown loess and sands in a warm, very dry lowland climate. Naturally, steppe and oak-hornbeam forest would grow here, giving way to softwood floodplain forest towards the river. Today there are practically no trees. This landscape is dominated by fields and meadows of more than 50 hectares.
Large domestic herbivores keep the landscape open by grazing. The domestic cattle grazing here add to the character of the landscape. Although their breeds are not „our“ native ones, they are undemanding, hardy and can stay outdoors all year round. The Scottish Galloway and Aberdeen Angus cattle spend their whole lives on these meadows. The calves are born here and stay with the herd until, after two years, they are taken to the slaughterhouse right on the farm. When needed, the cattle are given supplementary hay, haylage, lucerne, grain, pumpkin pulp and fodder beet. The farm does not use compound feed, soya or maize silage. Thanks to the dry climate, parasites multiply less easily and the cattle do not need deworming. Antibiotics are used only when an individual animal needs them.
Mangalica pigs, a breed from the Great Hungarian Plain, also have a large run between the old sheds and live outdoors all year round. These curly-coated, very hardy and undemanding pigs naturally put on weight even during a winter spent outside. The animals are also slaughtered and the meat processed right on the farm. The aim of their meat production is not to maximise the range of products, but to keep what works stable. In the pleasant farm shop you can buy vacuum-packed beef and pork as well as a wide range of smoked and unsmoked pork products. They tried supplying shops and restaurants, but the demand for a narrow range of standardised products did not fit the farm's philosophy, so in the end only some of them became regular customers. The farm's kitchen naturally uses its own or organic ingredients. Given today's food production, the owner's commitment to checking the quality of his own ingredients and of those used in the meat products, i.e. checking their origin, can be seen as a noble effort. Building their own farm shop is also a good step, underlining not only the essence of quality production but also the added value of selling locally.
„A conscious approach is also evident in their cooperation with other local producers, whose products complement the range in the farm shop. Cooperation between several smaller producers, backed by local distribution and sales, is a promising way to improve both the availability of and awareness of quality home-grown organic food. It is a good example of how a community and quality products can be created at local level, offering an alternative to the consumer habits of today's society„, noted Farma živá committee member Ľubomír Marhavý.
All the feed for the animals comes from their own production. For years they have farmed the land without chemicals, using proven crop rotation and fertilising with their own farmyard manure. On arable land they grow lucerne and fodder mixtures, oats, wheat, barley, spelt and legumes. They are starting to expand their field growing to include vegetables and are experimenting with mixed cropping, for example legumes with cereals.
The whole farm operation is driven by the owner's clear philosophy. They sell only their own meat and meat products made from it, processed in their own slaughterhouse and meat plant, and the owner personally vouches for their high quality. Much time has passed since university taught him to be impatient, to keep pushing further and chase weight gains. Today his farm works in the knowledge that nature knows best how things should be, so it keeps interference in natural processes to a minimum. Instead, it gives maximum attention to the people who work here. In this way the farm produces quality food and maintains a vast landscape of fields and meadows with free-grazing cattle.
The Krajina živá programme was financially supported by VÚB banka.
