Next year I plan to cultivate various vegetables. We have many plans and even more enthusiasm for work, says young farmer Dario Sajko.
“When I finished school in 2014, I continued working in agriculture, which I had started as a child with my grandfather. The following year, I decided to open a family farm because I wanted to continue where our ancestors left off, and that’s how it all began,” says Dario Sajko from Ilmin Dvor (the municipality of Čađavica), the owner of the eponymous family farm. He soon applied for Measure 6 of the Rural Development Program, which was a huge boost for him.
Dario received funding under Measure 6.1, which allowed him to buy a used tractor. He and his brother traveled all the way to Luxembourg to find the best deal and buy exactly what they needed. They traveled for 16 hours and were a bit exhausted, but they didn’t regret it. He also acquired a rotavator with a grain seeder, a plow, and a subsoiler.
Started hemp production with successful results
“This year, I applied for two projects under operation types 4.1.1 and 6.2.1, which were approved, so I renewed the machinery, and next year we will start with irrigation. The business is becoming more serious. I also started a service for transporting silage and will begin cultivating new crops. I recently started with hemp, which has been successful, and next year I plan to grow various vegetables. We have many plans and even more enthusiasm for work,” says this young farmer. He adds that he has designed a complete silo facility for raw material storage and a flour processing plant to offer finished products.
Dario has settled in Ilmin Dvor with his beloved wife Martina, and they now have two children, Jan and Mia, whom he hopes will also develop a love for the land and continue building on what they have started. His wife inherited the family farm from her parents, so she is not new to it either. “Times are better for us farmers, and with the rural development measures, the business is developing faster and easier. Without such state support, it would not be easy.”
State land remains a major problem
“The only problem is that we cannot access state land; we have only 2 hectares available from the municipality of Čađavica. The limit is 75 hectares, and if we could obtain that much, it would be truly beneficial. The good fortune for us young farmers is that we have priority in tenders, thanks to the former Minister Tomislav Tolušić,” Sajko points out and adds that without state assistance, he would probably be in the Netherlands today.
The price of agricultural land is high, he adds, and it is increasingly difficult to acquire larger parcels of land. Young farmers are eagerly awaiting positive news regarding agricultural land allocation, which would certainly be an additional incentive for them to stay in the countryside.
Dario employs two workers on his 30-hectare farm where he grows soy, corn, chamomile, brewing barley, and this year, hemp. He sources planting material, fertilizers, pesticides, and other supplies from Axereal Croatia. He has secured buyers for his hemp and barley, and in the future, he hopes to market his products beyond the borders of Croatia.
Dario Sajko says he is achieving good results from farming and recommends all young people who love the land and working with it to bravely take on the job and not leave their homeland.
Source: Agroclub.com
