What does climate change mean for the agricultura sector and what can we do?

1. What indicators can we follow?

1.1. Waste

1.1.1. Waste disposal = utilization and disposal of production waste in a way that promotes both the farm and the ecosystems. Can be counted by the amount of mixed waste leaving the facility.

1.1.2. Amount of second class = the amount of wastage tells directly about plant diseases, pests and growth conditions, can be counted in kilos, or percentages from the gross yield.

1.2. Weather

1.2.1. Precipitation sum= It's year rain amount as in millimetres

1.2.2. The sum of the heat= It's year average temperature, counted together all those days, when daily average temperature is over 5°C .

1.2.3. Rain meter= helps to compare the previous year rainfall

1.3. Cultivation

1.3.1. Open ditch at the pasture, eutrophication

1.4. Animals

1.4.1. Fodder samples= gives information of the food given to pigs, how well

1.5. Soil

1.5.1. Humus content, amount of worms= tell about the growth of the field

1.5.1.1. Humus content = measuring humus content of the soil regularly would tell how well the soil absorbs water.

1.5.2. Worms amount=important indicator of welfare of the fields

1.5.3. Depth of topsoil = by measuring in centimeters annually

1.6. Energy

1.6.1. Buildings: building's capability of heat insulation--> U- value (coefficient of thermal transmittance), energy efficiency. More information about the U- value: Energiatehokkuuteen liittyviä ohjearvoja - Energiatehokas koti

1.6.2. Operating hours of machinery on farm= How many hours of machines are used per year on a farm (hours per year)

1.6.3. The total amount of fossil fuel to be used on the farm= How much a farm uses fossil fuels per year (litres per year)

1.6.4. The total energy consumption= How much the farm use energy (kilowatts per year)

1.6.5. Used fuel oil= wet autumn raises it because dryer is not heated all the way with woodchips

1.6.6. Use of wood chops and wood pellets

1.6.7. Electricity consumption

1.6.7.1. Use of electricity

1.6.8. Tractor: consumption of fuel oil-->liters, KWh

1.6.9. Buildings: heating/cooling energy-->kWh

1.6.10. Buildings: energy certificate, building's energy efficiency-->category of energy efficiency , E- figure. More information about the energy certificate: Energiatodistus - Etusivu: etusivu

1.7. Food

1.7.1. Measuring food loss

1.8. Emissions

1.8.1. Tractor: emissions of CO2--> CO2 emission g/km

1.9. Water

1.9.1. The water footprint = Monitoring of fresh water consumption (cubic meters per year)

2. What happens when climate change?

2.1. Weather, nature

2.1.1. We don’t have also so clearly seasons as before.

2.1.1.1. The four seasons become harder to distinguish and warmer winters mean that weeds and plant diseases survive to the next season.

2.1.1.2. Changes in the temperature and the weather which affects the growing season, making it more irregular.

2.1.1.3. Increasing the temperature will cause the growing season to become longer and it will also become more irregular.

2.1.2. Winters are warmer and summers are colder.

2.1.2.1. It means that growing season was quite short and that caused problems for farmers.

2.1.2.2. Ground frost is especially important to clay soil which makes it more airy but when climate changes, cultivation of the fields becomes more challenging with heavy machinery because of soil compaction.

2.1.2.3. We believe that climate change won't affect positively in Finland since the weather is likely to turn towards British kind of weather. More rain and colder summers, but at the same time warmer winters. This won't make it possible for us to farm "southern" plants, for example corn.

2.1.2.4. Cold and rainy summers

2.1.3. Water and drier summers

2.1.3.1. Because of climate the growing season might lengthen as climate gets warmer.

2.1.3.2. If the climate change means warmer and drier summers it too can cause problems. It can cause the flesh flies to spread deeper in to the northern countries.

2.1.4. Extremes

2.1.4.1. The lack of pollinators in turn affects the growth of plants.

2.1.4.2. In best case an arriving storm will bring just heavy rain upon the farm, but in a worse situation its winds will make trees fall on the lines and cut out the electricity, leaving the farm without power.

2.1.4.3. Rising temperatures, drought, floods and extreme conditions are all consequences of climate change

2.1.4.4. The problems of extreme weather, such as long heat and droughts, heavy rains and floods

2.2. Crop cultivation

2.2.1. One should also use plants who gather nitrogen from the soil, such as clover or different peas.

2.2.2. Cultivation of sowing seedlings is increasing

2.2.3. Use different sensors or tests to determine the need for different nutrients that plants need during the season and that way always give the plants just the right amount of the right nutrients.

2.2.4. Use high quality grass mixes and that how reduce the need of yearly re-sowing.

2.2.5. We need to pay attention to the carbon footprint.

2.2.6. Too wet weather

2.2.6.1. The increase in rains will also have an effect on growing crops that have just sprouted, because they can turn yellow and thus have a worse crop yield.

2.2.6.2. In winter time rains cause destruction for fields when pools of water on the fields ice up and then winter grains will die

2.2.6.3. Excessive moisture gives also good substrate for plant diseases

2.2.6.4. At summers, if there is wet and raining a lot it will be hard to collect hay or do anything at all on the fields. If you need to collect wet hay, then it will get moldy fast and it will not be usable anymore.

2.2.6.5. Rising water levels might also make small water cop (rice for example) farming possible

2.2.6.6. More rain in the end of the growing season will make harvesting more difficult and rise the probability that grain humidity is not optimal during harvest. The wetter the grain is, the more energy will go in drying it.

2.2.6.7. Higher rainfall makes fields less suitable for grain- and hay farming.

2.2.6.8. Problems can also arise with harvesting the crop, for the combine harvesters and other machines will have a hard time working the field if the soil is soft and moist. This could once again result to increase in size and power of the machines, for example combine harvesters and tractors with tracks.

2.2.6.9. Rising water levels may cause more floods especially on fields next to trenches.

2.2.7. Longer growing season

2.2.7.1. Plant growth is intensifying

2.2.7.1.1. Warmer growing seasons allow southern grain species to grow.

2.2.7.2. If climate will warm up we can get some new crop options.

2.2.7.2.1. New crops are being cultivated and cultivation is diversifying

2.2.7.2.2. Longer and warmer growing seasons mean new crop options like corn and soybeans.

2.2.7.3. These new crops may increase the yields and have better nutritional value.

2.2.7.4. The cultivation areas of plant species move northward

2.2.7.4.1. And the growing season might become longer and it might get easier to craft in the northern Finland

2.2.7.5. This could also mean that the crops could be harvested more than once a year.

2.2.7.6. In the piggery farm the climate changes might cause changes in the crops.

2.2.7.7. If the amount of Finnish crop yields rises, the food that the pigs eat could be completely domestic.

2.2.8. Colder weather

2.2.8.1. If the climate is getting colder every plants growth is getting slower. This causes that it slows the farm's capacity of using their forests and grass to lower carbon footprint and they would probably have to find another way to do it.

2.2.8.2. The quantity might get lower and quality suffer.

2.2.8.3. Bad harvesting seasons would also cause the lack of concentrated feed, which would result in weaker production and food shortage. If the cows couldn't get all the nutrients that they need and can't get enough energy, then their milk production will drop. This won't be good for the farm that gets its living from the produced milk.

2.3. Diseses

2.3.1. The risk of pests grows

2.3.1.1. The need for monitoring and control of pests increases

2.3.1.2. But global warming brings also pest insects and plant diseases to our fields and this means more money spent to pesticides.

2.3.1.3. New pest species, plant diseases and weed species spread to Finland

2.3.1.4. Eggs of the internal parasites of horses live in the soil from which they end up in the horses' body, for example with grass. When the soil is frozen that doesn't occur, but prolonged muddy seasons and dirty surface of paddock will increase the risk of worm infection. Wet soil is also an ideal breeding ground for various bacteria, which can be a problem for example when the wound gets dirty in the mud.

2.3.1.5. New animal diseases like bluetongue and pertussis can occur.

2.3.2. More plant diseses

2.3.3. One way to save money is by using less herbicides against weeds and plant diseases. This can be achieved by adding more versatility to your farming cycle and stop growing the same crop at the same field year after another.

2.3.4. In warmer conditions for example wounds take longer time to heal.

2.3.5. The species and dynamics of pests and their innocent enemies are changing

2.4. Forestry

2.4.1. Storm devastation increases for example wind falls.

2.4.2. Climate change might also cause different kinds of forest destroying pests to arrive in Finland and cause serious problems in our forests. If pests kill trees then we won't get timber which means no money for the farm.

2.4.3. For forestry, climate change can cause problems with storm damage and possible droughts can cause fires.

2.4.4. More warm and dry weather

2.4.4.1. More intense dry seasons may increase wildfires.

2.4.4.2. Climate change increases the amount of carbon dioxide in the air, which improves the growth of forests.

2.4.4.3. Milder winters make logging more difficult because forests and roads won't carry heavy machines.

2.4.4.4. If climate is chancing towards warmer the forests are growing faster. This means that the farm has to make their logging little bit faster but still efficiently.

2.4.5. More wet weather

2.4.5.1. Rising waterlevels might also turn swamps into lakes.

2.5. Soil

2.5.1. Earth's growing condition and carbon binding are becoming increasingly important in arable crops

2.5.2. Rainfall increases soil erosion.

2.5.2.1. Increasing autumn harvest increases the risk of nutrient leakage and erosion

2.5.3. Machinery

2.5.3.1. Field work is difficult if rainfall increases and the fields get wet so that the soil can not withstand the work machines.

2.5.3.2. The increase in rains can have a negative effect on raising crops and tilling the soil. For example spring harrowing will be harder if there is a constant risk of rain or heavy storms.

2.5.3.3. Warmer winters will have negative effect on ploughing, since in Finland ground frosting is very important on our stiff clay fields. If ground frost won't break that clay ground, it will have negative effect on fields growing properties.

2.5.4. Compaction

2.5.4.1. Without cold winters the soil gets more compact because it loses its natural cultivation caused by frost.

2.5.4.2. Too heavy machines used

2.6. Animals

2.6.1. Pasture areas

2.6.1.1. Trees of the paddock are suffering because horses eat their bark. Eventually the trees will decay if they will not been cut down before it.

2.6.1.2. Cattle digestion releases methane to atmosphere. Methane is a much worse greenhouse gas than carbon dioxide.

2.6.1.3. On the other hand, when the climate warms up, the grazing period is extended and less silage feeding is needed for the animals.

2.6.1.4. In the future the pasture season will be longer. This makes possible that farmers won´t need to produce that much silage because cows can be much longer at pasture.

2.6.1.5. The growing season will be longer and for that reason the possible grazing period of the year will be extended.

2.6.2. Milk production

2.6.2.1. Milk production would be more efficient if all the input is coming from own ground.

2.6.2.2. When the climate gets warmer than nowadays hygiene of domestic animal production is more important than earlier.

2.6.2.3. Milk production deteriorates, animal growth and overall health are weakened due to thermal stress.

2.6.3. Feeding

2.6.3.1. Grass would also be more efficient to use in lowering carbon footprint, farm could make more harvests of grass, so it could intensify grasses own carbon dioxide binding.

2.6.4. Manure

2.6.4.1. We can also decide another way to the feeding system. If we start using bales without net then it's more friendly to the environment. Then we need to buy a baler that make those bales without net still that machine uses same amount plastic. Contracting is also a possible baling option.

2.6.4.2. There could be problems with slurry at farms. If it rains very much throughout the year, the farms slurry storage tank could overflow. This problem can be solved by building a roofing for the storage tank. This could also reduce methane emissions.

2.7. Buildings

2.7.1. The cowhouse should be built so that it is both economically and environmentally sustainable. For both of these purposes, a wooden frame and walls would be ideal.

2.7.2. Farm should also consider changing the grain storage system from ordinary drying system to a fresh storage system where grain is crushed with grinding mill and preserved using acid. In this way you can save fuel which would have gone in to drying the crop.

2.7.3. Natural ventilation using opening windows and walls can save energy and environment, when you can lower the usage of mechanical ventilation and through that consumption of electricity. Regular maintenance and keeping air blowers and ventilation tubes clean can also save energy and money. There will be an automatic manure removing robot in the cowhouse, which will also improve the air quality.

2.7.4. Warmer climate

2.7.4.1. If our winters get warmer, the need to heat up animal sheds will decrease

2.7.4.2. If the climate is warming up too much there might be some trouble keeping barn cool enough during summers.

2.7.5. Colder climate

2.7.5.1. If weather gets colder harvests would drop and service usage would rise up. Heating costs of main building and machine hall would rise up too. Feeding animals would cost way too much if you compare it to money you pay to make even some of the food for them.

2.8. Energy

2.8.1. One good way to save energy is to harvest the energy from cooling the milk and use it for example to heat up the using water. A woodchip burner could be a possibility, or then biogas from manure and old silage mass.

2.8.2. If climate is getting warmer harvests would be bigger and heating costs would drop.

2.8.2.1. The need for energy needed for heating is reduced

2.8.3. Because of storms we lose electricity really easily and that causes trouble to cow house where almost everything works with electricity.

2.8.4. Fuel usage in farming should be as low as possible. This can be achieved by using new machinery with modern fuel saving engine technology. Tractors and equipment should also be measured in a way what is efficient for a particular farm, not too big but not too small either.

2.8.5. Lighting of the cowhouse should be as energy efficient. At night dimmer lights are needed, preferably red so that the cows can sleep but still see if they need to move. In order to maximize productivity, the cows should have a circadian rhythm of 16 hours of daylight and eight hours of night. To improve the effect of the lightning, the walls in the old cowhouse should be cleaned and the walls in the new one need to be kept clean, as the bright wall surface makes the lights more effective than dirty walls.

2.8.6. If climate change causes some big storms and electricity goes down, the farm has backup plan to keep electricity on as long as necessary. Visala farm and two neighbour farms share one generator. In case of a blackout the farms share the generator to get through the milking process.

2.8.7. And the need of cooling energy will increase because of the rising temperature.

2.8.8. Renewable energy is produced in biogas plant and woodchip processing plant.

2.8.9. The biggest challenge of climate change is to reduce consumption of energy.

2.9. Machinery

2.9.1. Nowadays all the milk tanks come with a direct cooling system. An outside tank will be made for the new cowhouse, so there won't be need for a large milk room. The tank won't cost the farm anything, since the dairy company provides it. From the tanks cooling water we could collect the heat for warming water.

2.9.2. Cultivating methods should be taken into a lighter direction and for example prefer disc cultivating instead of ploughing when it`s possible, or use non-tillage sowing and by this save fuel. Silage making could be changed from baling to a silage stacking system, use less plastic and that way less oil, save money and the environment.

2.9.3. Milking robot energy usage changes a lot between different manufacturers. You can save energy by using vacuum pump equipped with frequency equalizer in milking. This can increase energy efficiency up to 40-60%. Remember also to check regularly the air-system for possible leaks, so that the air compressor doesn`t consume energy needlessly. In the robot, there are censors that detect the activity of the cows, such as health issues, heat, feeding and milk quality of milk. This reduces the need of human supervision and makes it possible to react to possible problems sooner.

2.9.4. Working machines cause destruction for fields when they get stuck and and harvesting is impossible if it’s raining every day.

2.9.5. During the rains, the forest soil can't withstand the work machines, that makes logging difficult.

2.9.6. Machinery sinks in wet fields and makes it impossible to cultivate. I

2.10. Roads

2.10.1. Roads could suffer from possibly increasing heavy rains and floods. Roads might have to be redone in new ways so that they will withstand bad weathers and changing weather conditions.

2.11. Politics

2.11.1. Agricultural environmental subsidies will have tight regulations to control climate changes.

2.12. Water issues

2.12.1. While population grows the problems with water increases.

2.12.2. Climate change increases eutrophication and drainage of lakes and inland waterways and the drop of oxygen levels in waters because of the eutrophication might cause more fish deaths.

2.12.2.1. Nutrients to wash out to the surrounding waterways,

2.12.3. If the climate change means more cold and rainy summers then the pastures too will be suffering. The ground will become muddy when the cows are walking around. Especially the gate area and the paths that the cows use would be very muddy if the ground has no chance to dry out. Muddy pastures are no good for cows' legs either. The mud will stick to their legs and it can cause skin and hoof problems. This could cause more work for the farmer if the legs would have to washed to prevent any health problems.

2.12.4. Winters are getting shorter and rains will bring more and more water instead of snow.

2.12.5. As water rains increase, there is a high risk that rainwater will drain from the paddock to the nearby water channel, bringing with it mud and horse feces from the surface of the paddock. If this will happen, the water will cause load and eutrophication of nitrogen, phosphorus and fecal bacteria. Also, residues from possible medication of horses may end up in the waterway.

2.12.6. Probably there will be more and more mud on the paddock when winters are shorter and the water rains increase.

2.12.7. The rising of waterlevels can cause an effect on farming and make it harder, as fields are left under water.

2.12.8. The farms other buildings are either on the hillside or under the hill so water might cause damage to them.

2.12.9. Increasing of rains might cause grain seeds to drown and/or grain to rot in the fields.

3. What kind of development actions can we do?

3.1. Plant cultivation

3.1.1. Another possibility is mixed farming which means that to the same field at the same time are sowed two different crop varieties. The basis for this kind of method is that the plants complement each other in nutrient nourishment, drought resistance and toughening plant blades. Usually to the seed mix are added 20-30% of nitrogen fixation plant. For example, a mix of oat and peas can be mowed to silage and used as a cattle feed.

3.1.2. Year-round plant cover, long lived grass and deep-rooted plants are good ways to bind the carbon.

3.1.3. The right timing to harvest crops is important to saving costs and nature. Crops need to dry anyway and wet crops take more fuels to get dry. With moisture meter can you find the most optimate grain moisture before harvest.

3.1.4. Good practices for future farming can for example be strip tilling, nutrition flow inside the farm and the whole society and recover nutrition from leachate.

3.1.5. We can reduce nutrient leakage by using precision fertilization, keeping fields green around the year and taking care of internal structure of fields.

3.1.6. Feeding strategy includes different feeding components and for example separate fodder for pregnant and nursing sows.

3.1.7. Farm should start getting more focused on fields vegetal coverage because of increased rainfall. Perennial grass fields are good to climate and soil. Winter crops are planted when it's possible.

3.1.8. One way to become a little bit more self-sustaining is to build a greenhouse where to grow vegetables. This greenhouse uses the surplus heat from the boiler room's burner to maintain itself around the year.

3.1.9. Developing new varieties of plants.

3.1.10. Soil compaction can also be fought by increasing the fertility of the field by chemical means, for example liming, which raises the pH reducing acidity of the soil allowing more nutrients to get to the plant

3.1.11. Lighter soil tilling practices could be used depending on the soil type, for example a cultivator plough. This device doesn't turn soil as effectively as a regular plow but it breaks and loosens the soil and cuts off roots. The working depth varies between 10-30cm.

3.1.12. Using soil improvement plants and green manure to improve soil by not harvesting them and ploughing them to the soil. Especially legume plants, and alfalfa are good as green manure plants, for they have long and strong roots that reach into the deepest soil levels all the way into the subsoil.

3.1.13. maybe to consider organic farming.

3.1.14. The probable development directions we thought for the farm are using more nitrogen fixation plants

3.1.15. longer growing seasons

3.1.16. Climate change gives also opportunity to choose new stains and also new plant species in the future.

3.1.17. Crop rotation also helps to keep weeds off.

3.1.18. Protein plants growing themselves

3.1.19. Organic farming

3.1.20. Climate change increases the amount of rainfall and at the same time the efficiency of agriculture is growing, and the machines are possibly heavier, whereby the soil will be further intensified. In particular, clay is susceptible to condensation and this causes problems when the water and nutrients do not migrate to the plant and the root of the plant is not deep enough. The harvest will be smaller and will result in losses. Lighter machines and, if possible, avoiding extra driving in the field.

3.1.21. The crop rotation systematically crops different plants alternately to maintain the growth of the soil

3.1.22. Switching to organic farming would be one possible direction.

3.1.23. Liming and green biomass increase biodiversity and a vibrant ecosystem.

3.1.24. Human solutions are crop rotation and crop plants.

3.1.25. Development of farming methods plays an important role in adapting to climate change. The times of sowing and harvesting may need to be changed and put in place, for example, irrigation systems.

3.1.26. Fields would be turned to forest ecosystems and therefore to carbon sinks. City folk or anyone willing could rent a certain area of the forest in purpose to support reduction of climate change.

3.2. Forestry

3.2.1. Switching to direct seeding also reduces the flow of nutrients. (KV no. 16)

3.2.2. Hardwood forests could continue to be in a natural state. There is no need to change this practice.

3.3. Landscaping

3.3.1. It is recommend to use farms country design to use natural water, safe trees, make little meadow, bushes, stones ja and rocks

3.3.2. Fields have been made better by demolishing big rocks and clearing small forest areas to make fields more straight sided, which makes it easier to work on the field with machines.

3.3.3. Establishing more landscape management areas and buying more forests, planting more saplings. Pollinator fields

3.3.4. The also could give some heifer to other pleases to keep care of beachfronts.

3.3.5. Cows and heifers are also good in the forest where they clear thickets off and that way forests stay in good sleek without any machines.

3.3.6. Land management plays an important role in land improvement.

3.4. Buildings

3.4.1. roofs and doors will have visible coverings which decreases need for artificial light.

3.4.2. They have also invested in air ventilation. An air pipe is buried under earth outside the piggeries, bringing warm air inside in the winter and cool air during the summer. This keeps the temperature of the nursing group optimum.

3.4.3. Reused building materials

3.4.4. to further emphasize the border between clean and possibly dirty areas and floor it is planned to put a bench between them

3.4.5. Strenghtening the insulation in certain buildings will decrease energy consumption because heat will not be able to escape

3.4.6. There is much to be gained in energy effiency with the grain drier. The drier's heater uses oil to heat air going in to the drier cabinet. There are solutions to increase the use of biomass in energy production and decrease fossil fuel usage. For example pre heating the air before it enters the main burner. This decreases the need of heating the air with oil extensively.

3.4.7. Also investing in technology that helps the company to start monitoring energy consumption for example the eCauge.

3.4.8. New cowhouse would include manure separation and end product could be used as desiccant.

3.4.9. Cowhouse will aso be having LED –lamps, which last longer than the regular lamps and consume less electricity.

3.4.10. Recycling of plastics

3.4.11. The dryer is going to be the first development point next summer. The source of energy will change from fuel oil to gas at the same time.

3.5. Animals

3.5.1. Methane emission will go lower if you feeding cows more for alfalfas and linseeds than normal feed corn and soy. Also rehears team in Danmark try to breed super grass for cows. They believe that digestible grass reduce methane gas.

3.5.2. Low-emission cows can be selected for breeding on the basis of genes. It has been studied that cows have genes that are related to the amount of methane produced.

3.5.3. The Fortum Horsepower service includes the delivery of wood-based bedding to the stables and the transport of manure from the store. The manure is utilized by burning in energy production. The concept is based on locality as well as on the circulation of materials and the effort to reduce and utilize the generated waste.

3.5.4. Also, pasture hygiene could be taken better care of by collecting the manure from it at least approximately.

3.5.5. It is, however, advisable to stop the grazing at the beginning of the autumn rains, so that horses will not be able to trample the wet field so much that it becomes muddy. The soil will suffer from trampling when it is wet and thereby reduce the hay growth.

3.5.6. the surface material could be renewed mechanically by an excavator to excavate the old surface, that is mud-chip-manure mixture, and spread new surface material onto the ground. For example, gravel or coarse sand could be spread first onto the ground and on that could be spread a layer of wood chips.

3.5.7. After the drainage and surface renewal, the cleaning of the paddock should be done weekly. To accomplish this, the owner of the farm may draw up a list of turns so that every horse owner is responsible for cleaning for one week at a time.

3.5.8. Composting of manure should be done on impermeable base or the structures should otherwise be waterproof.

3.5.9. The tree trunks could be protected, for example, by wrapping a net around the trunk or by fencing the trees. The insulators should not be nailed to the trunks of the trees. If new trees in the paddock are planned in the future, saplings should be planted in time. However, these should be protected from horses, for example, by surrounding the saplings with a fence.

3.5.10. Structures of the manure storage space should be waterproof.

3.5.11. Talli-Jussi is a covered and solid-based storage bag and cover that can fit into a small space and is easy to manage. It is suitable for anyone's stables and is made in Finland. Manure stored in large cages is efficiently composted and manure amount is almost halved. The resulting compost is homogeneous and pure. Talli-Jussi can also be used for conservation and composting in a nature conservation and groundwater area. When submitting a composted manure to an outsider, a manure release notice must be submitted to the authority.

3.5.12. From the horse corrals outside one must regularly pick up the feces and remove it to the concrete based manure storage to wait for further handling.

3.5.13. Subsurface drainages for the horse corrals and riding fields leading to the absorbing area.

3.5.14. New techniques to monitor animal health are being developed all the time. One example is thermographic cameras. The thermal cameras can monitor animal welfare according to body temperature.

3.5.15. The farm also has an LumiBat-system, which sprinkles the sows with water and makes the air more humid and cool if the temperature raises too high.

3.5.16. the farms slurry storage tank could overflow. This problem can be solved by building a roofing for the storage tank. This could also reduce methane emissions.

3.5.17. Organic milk production

3.5.18. During the next few years, it is planned to compost useless organic waste from the production, at the farm. With that trying to increase the amount of organic matter in soil.

3.6. Energy

3.6.1. Producing own energy for ex. solar energy (solar panels and collectors), wind power, hydropower, burning (for example) wood chips

3.6.2. plans to install solar panels

3.6.3. Over time the farm machinery will become more fuel efficient. Short term changes in machinery include new AdBlue technology.

3.6.4. Biogas production

3.6.5. Using the surplus heat from the boiler room's burner and direct it to the greenhouse if there would be one.

3.6.6. Like using carthorses. There has been horses and horsemen in the family. It's not nearly as affective as using machines but if there is no other way then it could be one solution.

3.6.7. Also to save money and the ecosystem, it would be a good idea to use solar panels to produce electricity.

3.6.8. Use of animal manure to warming houses in neighborhood

3.6.9. The farm should be focused on saving electricity and producing electricity in small-scale.

3.6.10. The farm could produce renewable energy for at least for horses electricity fences. By using solar panels

3.6.11. Wind energy could be possible,

3.6.12. In the future it could also be profitable to build a biogas facility together with nearby farms.

3.6.13. Utilizing dry manure for local energy sources would be effective to curb the climate change. Using dry manure as a fuel it would reduce the need for fossil fuels.

3.6.14. We would order solar panels from a Finnish company and professional installer would come and install them to the piggery.

3.6.15. Solar power could be used on the farm. The buildings have a lot of roof area that could be utilized for that.

3.6.16. Increase in usage of renewable fuels and energy sources such as windpower, solar power etc.

3.6.17. One option would be to build heating plant which works on woodchips. This heating plant could produce the needed heat for the house and cowshed.

3.6.18. Solar energy

3.6.18.1. This situation could be improved, for example with solar panels.

3.6.19. Installing solar panels on the roof of the cow house.

3.6.20. Power lines should be in underground so the damage inflicted by the storm doesn’t influence the electicity so easily.

3.6.21. The farm's fuel consumption can be lowered by building a new wheat dryer which uses some renewable energy like woodchips or electricity from solarpanels.

3.6.22. The farm can also invest to environment friendly energy sources like heat collection from barn, and solar panels.

3.6.23. Usage of bioenergy and bioenergy teaching are succeeded examples of sustainable development.

3.6.24. addition of hay as a raw material in a biogas plant

3.6.25. by reducing energy and material consumption and rationalizing mobility.

3.6.26. Use of biofules. The best solution would be that biofuels would be prepared from verses that have no other use, such as sawdust.

3.6.27. Reduce total energy consumption

3.6.28. Better use of resources: Carrot juice production, packs are mostly snack sized. Special flavours would be developed with carrot.

3.7. Machinery

3.7.1. The production facilities are meant to extend in every direction since the production machines get bigger and bigger all the time.

3.7.2. Then the working machines could be lighter or we could choose machines which have smaller ground pressure.

3.7.3. Invest in technology that is more energy efficient than commonly used technology

3.7.4. It would be smart to install automatic steering in one of the farms main tractors. It would be expensive, but it would make a lot of work phases easier and faster. When doing spring work the tractor would pull harrow. By making this automatic steering would use whole width of the harrow. At summer it would be a great help when spreading artificial fertilizer, because fertilizer could be placed precisely. Device would also provide help when spreading manure and when cultivating fields in fall. Device would minimize waste of work width. When this happens fields won’t get so messy and it would minimize compaction of soil. Less compaction on the fields equals better water economy, which means that land absorbs nutrients better. There would be a lot of use for this device, so the device would pay itself back soon in time and fuel costs.

3.7.5. As the farm does not have an electricity meter in use, installing and using it could help the farm find out the use of electricity more in more detail. This would then again help to pinpoint possible targets for development. Based on the normal day schedule of the pigs, biggest spikes in electricity should come during feeding time. Since the machine makes three different fodder mixtures three times a day, there should be nine different peaks in the usage of electricity. Lights are also timed to turn on for a few hours during feeding and put together they should be turned on 8-10 h per day, as is required in pig farming.

3.7.6. the problem of losing electricity because of cables. This is often not that significant in households where cables are relatively short. However, in long buildings like animal shelters tend to be, the power lost between beginning and end of the cables can cause bigger costs than a person would first think. Article offers a simple way to find out if you are suffering from voltage dropping between points A and B. You find the closest electricity socket near the incoming supply and measure voltage there. Then search for the electricity socket that's on the other side of the building, farthest away from the incoming supply. It's natural to have small difference in the numbers, but for example 6V drop from 240V means you have lost 2,5% of voltage somewhere on the way. There are several ways to reduce cable losses. Using larger cables, spreading/dividing the load, using higher efficiency equipment and improving control.

3.7.7. Automatic control systems and navigation systems are installed in machines.

3.7.8. Electric or hybrid cars and bikes

3.7.9. Using automatic control system or navigation system prevents driving around the field unnecessarily.

3.7.10. When buying new machinery environmentally friendly options are taken into account, such as machines that run on biofuel.

3.7.11. Other technologies that could be used are services such as GrainSense that help you make decisions based on actual data of the quality of your grain. Details like the amount of protein you have are essential information in feeding animals. It also helps managing income and expenses because it compares prices and tells you where to get the best price. GrainSense also knows when yield is the best because you can measure grain quality before harvesting and tell in what order it is worth harvesting.

3.7.12. Pipes have been installed under the meat piggery. Even though they are not in use yet, the plan is clear. Slurry will be going through the pipes and the warmth of the slurry is going to be redirected to heat the floors in the piggery. This will, when operational, bring down the heating costs of the building. It will also reduce the ammonium emissions of the slurry, since it will be cooled down faster.

3.7.13. In the future nanotechnology can be a useful way to clean all fluids from the piggery for pigs to drink.

3.7.14. Autonomy tractors are better for fields than normal human driving tractors. They can drive on the same tracks year after year and find places on the fields where wheels never touch and compact. They are also lighter than normal tractors and damage for the field is smaller that way too.

3.7.15. There are good ways to use new and future technology for cultivation. For example drones and satellite images give you information of your fields condition. Finding bad places from field helps to make it better.

3.7.16. And when we have for example more tractors which are using biogas or electricity, farms should buy and start using them.

3.7.17. tractors getting stuck could be solved with track machines which have smaller ground pressure.

3.8. Roads

3.8.1. The roads are being taken care of and graded, rubble is added if needed.

3.8.2. Collective ways and fields for outdoor exercising

3.9. Extreme weather

3.9.1. Extreme conditions such as storms and floods may increase and worsen. If storms worsen it causes trees to fall and may affect on availability of woodchip.

3.9.2. The farm could also improve its readiness for storms that may cause electricity disconnection.

3.10. Energy

3.10.1. The farm's main building is heated with woodchip and the future grain drier is also going to be heated with it.

3.10.2. Nutrition flow inside the farm is easier to put into practice if the farm has a biogas plant. Some of the nutrients disappear from slurry to air. The biogas plant helps you to make nutrition utilization better.

3.10.3. Currently the farm has an aggregate which uses oil as fuel, so as long as they have fuel the backup system works. In case the farm will invest in a biogas power plant in the future, an aggregate working with biogas would provide a more eco-friendly option.

3.10.4. It would also be a possibility to build a woodchip heating plant next to the new dryer.

3.10.5. It is also a possibility to install a heat collecting system on the ceiling that would collect the naturar heat coming from the cows.

3.11. Water

3.11.1. Tuorla already has exclusion area in use beside the watercourses and this would be good to maintain and look for more nutrients for the binders of the plants. These could be mowed and crushed and used for land improvement.

3.11.2. At the fields is good to do better drainage and make sure that ditches works well.

3.11.3. Fields can be reshaped so that they won't drown in water.

3.11.4. Rainwater use

3.11.5. However, maintenance of open ditches should be taken care of.

3.11.6. By using rainwater for toilet flushing, laundry and garden, it can reduce mains water requirements of a typical stablehold by 70%. If hot water systems are supplied with rain water, this reduction can be as high as 85%.

3.11.7. Although one could also use rainwater as drinkingwater for animals.

3.11.8. In Finland, some wetlands have been built to deal with droughts. Wetlands are partly or fully covered areas of vegetation that are permanently or temporarily covered by water. They can be used to slow down and delay shrinkage and prevent floods and improve the quality of droppings. Some of the contaminants can land on the bottom of the wetlands, and in addition, moisture vegetation can bind nutrients and impurities. Many of the wetlands built for different purposes have been studied in SYKE.

3.11.9. Rain gutters, drain pipes and roadway inlets or surge tanks for the edifices and for the yard and urban runoff pipelines and subsurface drainage system which are led to the sewer system which ends to the absorbing area.

3.11.9.1. The urban runoff pipelines will lead the urban run offs from the yard to the absorbing area. Subsurface drainage will lead the urban run offs from the horse corrals and the riding fields to the absorbing area. The ditches around the yard must also be led to the absorbing area.

3.11.9.2. Piping urban run offs out of the farm's yard with well and sufficiently build urban runoff system to the absorbing area. On the surface of the absorbing area one can plant for example willow which effectively capitalizes nitrogen and phosphorus from the soil.

3.11.10. They have been cleaning underdrains to make fields water economy better. Under drains have been cleaned with underdrain douche. Douche works by putting the hose inside underdrain taphole. Then you start the pump and water will come off from the hose and the hose will dig deeper in the underdrain therefore cleaning it from all kinds of blockades.

3.11.11. They are going to renew and make more new under drains to make fields water economy better.

3.11.12. Having a reserve water tank in case of drought or other emergency.

3.11.13. Collecting and using rain water for irrigation or farm using rain water to cows drinking water especially in summers when cows are pastured.

3.11.14. We can do better drainage in order that water could get away from fields.

3.11.15. Drains need to be made bigger so that they can handle growing water amounts.

3.11.16. Proper drainage is important as rainfall increases. The ditches around the fields must also be good enough to prevent water from reaching the fields.

3.12. Soil

3.12.1. Biodegradation is a common method of treating droughts worldwide, but it has been used rarely in Finland. In it, the lava is filtered through the soil layers, whereby the water is purified. Some of the water can be absorbed into the soil, but usually the filtered water is collected into the enclosures and passed forward. When the lapping is directed to the surface pressure on the ground, it is referred to biofiltration areas or rain forest gardens. The first studies have been carried out on the effectiveness of white filtration in Finnish conditions.

3.12.2. Carbon stock of the soil can be increased with manure, recycled fertilizer and soil improvers as by-products of the forest industry.

3.12.3. It is important to take care of the country's micro-organisms, which decompose organic fertilizers, such as livestock manure and green fertilizer, to plants.

3.12.4. Soil liming raises pH and helps to produce better crops.

3.12.5. Soil can be improved with nitrogen-binding plants, such as pea, clover, broad bean and lupine.

3.12.6. The use of livestock manure alone on plants, would help the micro-organism and humus growth. The addition of organic matter would help the soil to bind carbon.

3.12.7. To improve the amount of organic matter and soil structure with different plant species, like by cultivating hemp, because organic matter such as humus decreases gradually.

3.13. Diseses

3.13.1. following common instructions with how to minimize the risk of contagious diseases

3.13.2. Use of robber flies

3.13.3. Fields need to be sprayed more often than before because of increased pest insects and plant diseases.

3.14. Food

3.14.1. Increasing self-sufficiency

3.14.2. Keep up the food variety.

3.15. Politics

3.15.1. Farming subsidy terms will most probably develop to even more environment friendly direction.

3.15.2. The share of renewable energy in 2020 is 90 %.

3.15.3. Finland's target, for example, is that in 2020 we live in a recycling society where all waste is a resource.

3.15.4. OKKA-institutes sustainable developments certificate was granted for learning institute and this certificate has been redone in 2013. Learning institute pursues to develop sustainable developments four different parts in future also and those 4 parts are: environment, economy, culture and socially sustainable development

3.15.5. Future development depends on people's actions as well as political solutions.