Restoring semi-wild pastures with composted manure

Given the farm’s population of free-range cows, sheep and goats, which graze on vast areas of grasslands, managing nutrients responsibly is a high priority at the Farm of Happiness.

“This is costly indeed, and if you have many animals that are in the pastures part-time, but also spend a lot of time in the cowsheds, you definitely have a huge amount of nutrients to address,” says Marina. “We do what we can, and this is actually part of the practice of organic farming.”

The farmers take care to control and isolate liquid discharges from all farm buildings. They have also chosen not to keep any technical farm buildings near the adjacent lake in order to prevent uncontrolled agricultural discharges to the water bodies. A lot of time is spent managing the coastline together with other villagers.

“These simple solutions make the whole ecosystem around us more sustainable.”

Manure and bedding from the farm is used to produce compost which is then spread on the fields instead of commercially produced artificial fertilizers. Fertilizing the grasslands with the compost facilitates slower but steady growth.

The farmers also rotate the usage of the pastures by their free-range cows and goats to help preserve the wildlife associated with the grasslands. The grasslands are managed to keep them semi-natural and maintain forest edges.

“These simple solutions make the whole ecosystem around us more sustainable,” says Marina.

Hosting curious visitors through agricultural tourism

With the Farm of Happiness located so close to the Russian-Finnish border, the farmers have enjoyed many curious visitors over the years from both sides of the border. So many, in fact, that they have made agricultural tourism part of their business model.

“At first, it was unexpected, but then we realized that the business of inviting people to spend time at the traditional farm is profitable,” says Marina.

The farmers arrange farm visits which include volunteering activities where visitors can stay in a cabin for several days, interact with farm animals, and try working on the farm. They especially attract volunteers during the haymaking season, who participate in the tradition of cutting grass by hand using scythes. During farm visits, Marina and her family take the opportunity to pass along knowledge about the important role of organic farming in maintaining the ancient rural landscape of the Vuoksi river valley region.

“Before the pandemic, we also attracted Finnish tourists and would demonstrate how the old and restored farm is doing now,” says Marina. “I hope they will return once the borders are open again.”

The farmers keep up relationships with other small farmers in the area, who also live on old Finnish farms, and exchange knowledge of sustainable farming practices.

“We collaborate with them and the rest of the community to promote the importance of organic farming,” says Marina. “This dialogue is important for the development and restoration of family-run and medium-sized farms in the region.” 

Growing support for small organic farms

As a result of their efforts, Marina and her family have experienced an upswing in the popularity of their farm products, which includes cheese, milk, sour cream and cottage cheese sold in glass jars that are washed and reused. They promote their products on their social networking page at vkontakte.ru where they have attracted 3,700 members and potential customers. Products are sold on online farming stores and the farm also sells directly to regular customers who like the idea of sustainable agricultural development.

“I would say that the main outcome since implementing these solutions is the financial outcome and relative success,” says Marina. “People are interested in purchasing milk products from small organic farms in addition to food from the supermarkets, and thus, they always try to buy products from sustainable farms.”

National winner of the Baltic Sea Farmer of the Year Award 2021

In recognition the efforts made at the Farm of Happiness to reduce nutrient runoff, Marina and Valeriy have been awarded with the national Baltic Sea Farmer of the Year Award for Russia.

“This is all very unexpected,” says Marina.  “While there are many uncertainties, we will continue to develop rural and agricultural tourism, and will keep producing,” says Marina on their future plans. “We are a dairy farm, and work must go on. We hope to gain knowledge from the experiences of the other national winners, and hope that the award will be used for some of the solutions they practice.”

What advice do you have for other farmers?

“Think of the landscape around you and what you are starting with,” advises Marina. “If you start a new farm on previously managed and then abandoned areas, it is a good idea to be organic right from the start, especially if you are going to keep animals. You have good grasslands around that just need to be managed and probably cleared from some trees and shrubs.  Such an ecosystem does not require a huge amount fertilizers, and you’ll definitely get it by composting. Facilitating such production cycles is traditional on the one hand, and popular, and thus modern, today.”