A Homokhátságon gazdálkodó néhány állattenyésztő gazdaság kilátásai, nehézségei

A previous primary research I conducted in 2017-2018 focused on young farmers farming in the Homokhátság. I chose this area because, in my opinion, farmers here are facing increasingly serious special problems and challenges that are specific to the area under study. I reached the farmers at that time using the snowball method. My current goal was to return to some of the farmers in the Homokhátság who were then engaged in animal husbandry or mixed farming and ask them about the changes that have affected their farms since then, how they see the current situation of animal husbandry, what difficulties they face, to what extent their farms are affected by drought, rising feed and crop prices, what factors influence the future of their farms, even their survival, what factors pose risks. During my current visit, I found that the appearance of animal diseases (bird flu, African swine fever), changes in purchase prices and the development of feed and crop prices, and the size of the holdings all determine the future of the farms visited. Although the majority of the farmers visited do not plan to expand their livestock, the goal is to maintain or reduce the current stock to a minimum, this is largely influenced by the livestock sector of the farm. None of the farms would like to completely abandon livestock farming, and pig farmers also prefer to wait and partially reduce the sow population, their goal is not to completely eliminate the herd. It is favorable for beef cattle farming if they can keep the animals in extensive conditions and grazing livestock can be done for a significant part of the year. Dairy cattle farms see the future in modernization, as the labor shortage is significant in this segment of agriculture as well. During my previous visit, young farmers also mentioned the difficulty of buying farmland, which is even more typical and noticeable these days. Every farm includes the expansion and modernization of machinery and equipment in its plans, and those who have outdated machinery and equipment try to rejuvenate them and replace them with more modern, up-to-date equipment. Overall, it is not clear whether their situation has improved over the past years, but it is cause for optimism that they intend to expand their farms or at least continue their activities.