Lower Costs, Better Decisions: Finnish Lessons for More Competitive Farming

High production costs, volatile farm-gate prices and an increasingly difficult struggle to stay profitable. How can farmers remain competitive? In September, the SZ REDA – Stara Zagora team visited Central Finland to explore local experience with smart farming and ways to use resources more efficiently, make better decisions and produce more sustainably.

The visit was organised by Jamk University of Applied Sciences in Jyväskylä, Finland, as part of the international AgriExcel project, in which SZ REDA – Stara Zagora is a partner alongside six other European regions. The project is funded by the Interreg Europe programme and aims to support the digital transformation of agriculture and the agri-food sector by exchanging good practices and improving regional policies to promote innovation, efficiency and competitiveness.

A Good Harvest Does Not Always Mean a Profit

For many farmers, rising costs for fuel, fertilisers, crop protection products, machinery and maintenance, combined with unfavourable farm-gate prices, are putting the profitability of production at risk. We learned during the visit that these concerns affect farmers not only in Bulgaria, but across Europe. Labour is another key challenge everywhere. This is especially true in Finland, a vast, sparsely populated country where labour costs are high. This places significant constraints on farms and makes hiring workers almost unaffordable.

In this situation, the question is not simply how to produce more, but how to produce more efficiently, with lower costs and fewer losses, without compromising on quality or sustainability. Digitalisation is an essential step—not an end in itself or necessarily an expensive upgrade, but a tool for better production management.

Sensors, Drones and Talking Tractors: How Technology Works in Practice

The visit focused on smart farming and the practical application of digital technologies. The programme included demonstrations at the Institute of Bioeconomy in Saarijärvi, participation in the BioBoosters Demo Days event and a visit to HRV Farm.

The Finnish hosts presented practical solutions that can support farm management:

• Smart field sensors from Jamk, Soil Scout and Yield Systems — collect data on soil and field conditions, helping farmers manage resources more precisely.

Imagine a grain farmer managing large areas across several localities. To assess crop conditions, they need to inspect the fields regularly and decide when to apply treatments, fertilise or carry out other operations. But conditions are not always the same across every part of a field. Satellite imagery, drones and field sensors can help identify differences and problems earlier. This gives the farmer more information to decide where and when action is needed. Instead of relying on a one-size-fits-all approach across the entire area, resources can be targeted more precisely.

• Drones and satellite monitoring — make it possible to monitor crop conditions across large areas and identify sections that need additional attention.

• Remote diagnostics for agricultural machinery — Valtra and Delta Cygni Labs presented technologies for monitoring the condition of tractors and other farm machinery, and detecting technical problems early, before a breakdown takes a machine out of service during harvest or another critical operation.

• Дистанционна диагностика на земеделска техника — Valtra и Delta Cygni Labs представиха технологии за наблюдение на състоянието на трактори и други земеделски машини и ранно установяване на технически проблеми, преди те да извадят машината от строя по време на жътва или друга важна дейност.

• Electric drive systems, presented by AGCO Power and Batemo — technologies with the potential to make agricultural machinery more efficient and sustainable.

From Demonstration to Real-World Farming

One of the most valuable lessons from the visit to Finland was that farmers need to see technologies in action, not just hear presentations about what they can do. Practical demonstrations give them the opportunity to ask the questions that really matter: How much does the solution cost? Is it suitable for my farm? How is it maintained? What costs could it help reduce, and how long would it take for the investment to pay off?

Cooperation among farmers, universities, technology companies and business-support organisations is particularly important. The Bulgarian delegation therefore brought together representatives from the public sector, academia and business, including Prof. Diyan Georgiev, Dean of the Faculty of Agriculture at Trakia University, and Tsvetelina Staykova from the National Grain Producers Association. Their participation enabled us to start working on future initiatives straight away.

Demonstration days, testing technologies on working farms, practical training and shared access to specialist services are among the ways to make digital innovations more accessible to farmers.

What’s Next in Bulgaria? Free Events and Knowledge Exchange for Farmers

In the coming months, SZ REDA – Stara Zagora will organise a series of events to encourage knowledge exchange and the testing of innovations. The events will be aimed at farmers considering digitalising their processes and production. They will be free of charge for farmers and include visits to innovative farms, training seminars, and opportunities to see and test new technologies. Speakers from academia, business and non-governmental organisations will also be invited to help bring scientific advances into practice straight away.

For more information and event dates, contact Maria Andreeva, AgriExcel Project Communications Manager, at pr@szeda.eu or on +359 876 001 840.

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The AgriExcel project is co-funded by the European Union through the Interreg Europe programme.

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