Today, there are about 250 farmers in Västerbotten, Norrbotten and parts of Ångermanland and Jämtland that deliver their milk to Norrmejerier.
But more and more people are laying down as profitability fails and according to Norrmejerier’s management, it is only half left in ten years unless state support increases.
Young farmers move here
But now it looks like it is young farmers from Northern Europe who will fill the gaps for the farmers who end due to poor profitability and for great work.
– A farm in southern Sweden or in the Netherlands of the size with 120 dairy cows that we now have costs maybe SEK 20 million, but here we have to pay about a quarter in purchases. Although it also requires a lot of work and large investments, it is much easier, says Gilbert Schukken, who bought his farm two years ago in Gunsmark, north of Ånäset.
Many Dutch in the area
There are today seven Dutch people who bought their farms in the middle countryside and four that bought farms in Kågedalen. The situation starts to resemble the one in Canada where many Dutch also bought farms and established themselves as farmers.
– In Holland it is expensive land, large farms and difficult to establish themselves and when I heard about the coastal country in Västerbotten and Norrbotten and met a like -minded partner we decided to invest here in Gunsmark and we do not regret it, says Gilbert Schukken.