Cities in Helsinki region have hundreds of cows and thousands of hectares of arable land
By Anna-Leena Pyykkönen
"Ring Road III is the road to my field", quips farmer Göran Härmälä from Sotunki in Vantaa.
His most remote field is right next to the Martinlaakso power plant. "I get feedback when I ride along the Ring Road in my combine", the urban farmer continues.
This is the time of the spring sowing. Härmälä is not the only one to drive along the crowded highways of the Helsinki region in agricultural vehicles. There are about five farmers in Sotunki alone, and there are about 120 farmers in the region who get EU subsidies.
Cows also roam on city fields, but only in the City of Helsinki does the municipality itself own cattle.
The common agricultural secretary for the cities of Helsinki and Vantaa says that there are hundreds of cows in the area. Only Espoo has none at all, but there are horses there.
The cities of Helsinki and Vantaa own farmland, and each city gets about EUR 200,000 in EU agricultural subsidies. Espoo has leased all of its arable land to agricultural entrepreneurs, and gets no subsidies itself.
It is economically advantageous for a city to maintain as much of the unbuilt land that it owns in agricultural use as possible, because maintenance of park land costs much more than that of fields.
The greatest amount of agriculture in the Helsinki region takes place in Vantaa. There are just under 3,800 hectares of arable and pasture land in the city, which is 15 per cent of its surface area. All in all, there are about 5,400 hectares of cultivated land in the whole metropolitan area.
Both Espoo and Vantaa have several tenant farmers, who have none, or very little, of their own land. Härmälä owns just four hectares in Sotunki. In addition to that, he has leased 90 hectares from the city.
"I am part of the green wave of the 1970s", Härmälä says. He has no inherited land, but his father was the caretaker of the land of Westerkulla Manor.
He does not expect that farming will end in Sotunki. "A couple of farms will certainly be left, and the village landscape will be preserved", he promises.
Taking care of the fields of Katrinenberg in Seutula, in Vantaa, is Tuomas Vaherlehto, with the help of two contracted employees and a few trainees.
The fields have spring wheat, autumn rye, spring rapeseed, and malt barley. A field of flowers is also sown for the aesthetic benefit of the city dwellers. In the winter months the men tend to the forests in park areas and turn twigs into wood chips. "The activities bring the city some income as well. Currently we are building a new drying house", Vaherlehto says.
The fields of the city spread like a quilt though the area. There are about 100 separate sectors. The largest contiguous field opening is in the Petikko area.
Areas between houses are not easy to farm. "However, people do let the crops grow in peace, although someone might drive onto a field to repair a car. At other times, a car will get stuck in a field", Tuomas Vaherlehto says.
In Hista, in Espoo, former University of Helsinki Chancellor Risto Ihamuotila manages the farm owned by his family.
"I just planted linseed flax, whose Omega 3 oils are healthy. Otherwise we mostly grow seed grain."
Ihamuotila has 100 hectares of agricultural land. They are not to be taken out of production, even though a large residential area is to be built in Hista. However, he is not sure if the next generation will continue farming the land.
Like other farmers, Ihamuotila appreciates the maintenance of the old landscape. A new phenomenon is that fields are being sought for use as golf courses, and in places such conversions have been made.
Helsingin Sanomat / First published in print 10.5.2007
ANNA-LEENA PYYKKÖNEN / Helsingin Sanomat
anna-leena.pyykkonen@hs.fi
|
| 15.5.2007 - THIS WEEK |
 Cities in Helsinki region have hundreds of cows and thousands of hectares of arable land |
|
