Finnish farm visits: scaling up can mean more than growing bigger

The first farm visits of the Scaling Organic program have now been completed in Finland. The participating companies form a diverse group of 13 small horticultural businesses working with vegetables, berries, herbs and natural products. Some are already organic, some regenerative, while others are exploring a transition towards these two.

The visits focused on getting a deeper understanding of the farms’ present situation, and what their individual development needs are. Topics range from organic strawberry production in tunnels and seedling cultivation to extension of the season, weed management, finding suitable new crops for rotation and developing processing. Broader questions also emerged: how to organize work efficiently on a small farm, when to hire additional staff, and how to make the best use of limited land and resources.

One particular message stood up from the Finnish farms: growth does not only mean more hectares. Many of the participating businesses are instead looking for ways to improve production on the land they already have. Growth can mean better yields and quality, greater crop diversity, a longer production season, more efficient cultivation methods or creating higher-value products through processing.

Many of the farms are small, but their ambitions are not. Their development goals show that scaling up can take many forms. For these businesses, the key question is not simply “How can we become bigger?”, but “How can we make what we already do even better?”