It’s a tough life for small farmer Romina in deep rural Croatia
MAKING a living off a small farm in deepest rural Croatia is a tough challenge but one dedicated female farmer is determined to succeed.
Romina Zadravec only has 15 cows at her small farm called Kusanovec Dairy located near Dugo Selo, in the eastern part of Zagreb County, but she is surviving and providing an income for her family and her sister’s family too.
Small farms are the heart and soul of the rural communities in Croatia, which is the youngest member of the European Union. In total, there are around 157,000 farms in Croatia, 85 to 90 per cent of which are classed as small farms with less than ten hectares, which is the average farm size in the country.
Romina’s farm has been in her family for decades having been handed down through the generations and now to her.
Although Romina is the owner, the farm supports her own family plus that of her sister, Melita Jadanec-Cutura, totalling nine people.
“It’s tradition for the farms to be handed down and now I am the owner of this farm,” said Romina. “It is a small farm compared to others in Europe but it is my home and I am determined to make it work.”
Romina’s farm extends to 30 hectares which is used to produce fodder for the livestock, that remain indoors all year long, and also to grow some crops for sale.
While many young people leave Croatia for opportunities abroad, Romina was determined to stay and run her business successfully. She even enrolled onto a food technology course at a local university to gain extra knowledge on food production.
“I never wanted to leave my area,” said Romina. “Plenty of my friends growing up decided to leave the area and the country in search of a better life but I wanted to stay and work the farm.
“Our farm is steeped in tradition dating back to 1910. In 2008 we built the small dairy and thanks to money from the European Union we have been able to invest in and expand the dairy since then.”
Romina milks 15 Simmental cows on the farm and keeps an additional nine young heifers as replacements. The cows produce 300 litres of milk per day at 3% Protein and 4% Butterfat which is all used to manufacture cheese for sale at a local mall and some outdoor markets.
While the men look after the fields, Romina and her sister Melita produce a range of cheeses including fresh, semi-hard and hard varieties under their famous brand name Zg Sirek. Around 80 per cent of their production is in fresh cheeses.
Romina is also the president of ‘Sirek’, the Association of Small Cheese Makers of Zagreb County, and is the president of ‘SirCro’, the Croatian Alliance of Small Cheese Makers.
She said: “The cows produce an average 6,500 litres each per lactation and all of it is used to produce the cheese. Our fresh cheese sells for five euro per kilo, the semi-hard for ten euros per kilo and the hard cheeses for 14 euros per kilo.”
However, life as a small farmer would be currently unsustainable without financial support from the Croatian government and the European Commission.
“We receive €14,000 per year from our local Zagreb County and a further €300 per hectare from the European Union,” said Romina. “It would be very hard to survive without this support.
“At the moment we live ok but our incomes could be improved. We have plans to extend the cheese making to include some kind of agri-tourism to include wine and cheese tasting.”
However, there are some challenges of being in the EU for small farmers like Romina, such as cheap imports and unregulated markets.
Croatian politicians are trying to fight to ensure these small farms survive as they provide a strong socio economic lifeline to the many small villages and towns scattered across the country and on its Adriatic islands.
Croatia MEP Marijana Petir is one of those fighting for a fair deal for small farmers from the latest reform of the Common Agricultural Policy.
Marijana said: “As a Croatian member of the EP and a member of the EPP Group in the European Parliament I have always been trying to be a strong voice of Croatian farmers in the EU.
“As the youngest Member State, Croatia and Croatian farmers are facing numerous challenges. Part of those problems arise from weak domestic agricultural policies prior and at the very beginning of the Croatian accession to the EU, but a great part is a consequence of inequality of Croatian farmers at the common market and unfair trading practices in the food supply chain.
“Our farmers have higher costs of finances with significant bigger interest rates on their investments and production materials. Our domestic production today is enough just for a half of our daily domestic consumption needs of agricultural products and our market is flooded with low quality food products from both the EU and third countries.
“So, my primary goal is to secure a level playing field on the common market for Croatian farmers and their products, to secure the same conditions as those for farmers from other Members States, to secure their competitiveness and to fight the unfair trading practices on national and at the EU level.
“Up to the end of this legislature of the European Parliament I will try to do my share in amending and drafting new legislative proposals of the CAP reform.
“Firstly, I think that we must ensure a fair finance envelope for the CAP to achieve as many as possible of the goals we have. Most important of those are to stabilise the income for small and medium family farms and to facilitate highly needed generational renewal of our rural areas,” she said.
