Potatoes - Maximillian Hardegg, Austria
Management
The irrigation system has enabled high-quality potatoes to be consistently grown, enabling a local supply contract to be established. The contract sets out minimum grades for the potatoes, and incentives for quality above that stated in the contract. This enables the farm to calculate profits and to make management decisions accordingly. By working together, the farm and the processor are able to improve their business relationship and profitability.
Investment in production practices ensures a strong supply of high-quality potatoes, enabling local supply contracts to be agreed.
Set-aside land has traditionally played a significant role in the preservation of biodiversity, in particular in intensively managed, mono-cropped arable landscapes. It provided ideal habitats for several animals and plants. With the abolition of set-aside there could be a serious decline in farmland bird populations which relied on these areas.
The Seefeld farm still has 70 hectares of long term set-aside, along with 100 hectares of wetland and 40 hectares of hedgerows and beetle banks; almost 10% of the farm’s arable land. The farm is aware that the loss of these important areas for wildlife and farmland birds could have a dramatic affect on local biodiversity.
The farm’s long-term set-aside land provides important habitats for local wildlife.
The farm is inspected under the requirements of the Frisch & Frost farm assurance scheme and the GlobalGAP standard, which is inspected thoroughly by the Internationally Accredited Austrian State Company (AMA Gütesiegel). This ensures that the production of potatoes on the farm is fully compliant with the requirements of the McDonalds Agricultural Assurance Programme (MAAP).