The Minister for Agriculture Jānis Dūklavs and senior public officials congratulated the laureates of the contest “Sējējs 2017” at the culture palace “Ziemeļblāzma” on 13 October. The owners of Lāses AM, SIA Aigars Melderis and his spouse Dace Meldere received an award in the category Organic Farm. Dace Meldere admits that this is a great honour. “We believe that this is the most important award in the field of agriculture. In summer, the farm was visited by a committee which thoroughly inspected the entire farm — cattle and rural land. “Our cattle have a good genetic background. The committee examined environmental, biological matters, results and economic indicators, our overall development in the course of five years,” D. Meldere reveals. Organic farming imposes additional obligations, therefore it is not easy to comply with all standards.
Our family has been in the business of organic farming since 2005, but in 2013 we started organic cattle and grain farming. “Our meat has been produced in an ecological environment,” they both add. The last five years have been the years of significant development for the farm. The farm has developed rapidly through the use of European funds — we have renovated the cattle-shed, we have purchased machinery — everything required for the development of the farm. In order to express their gratitude for the presented award, Aigars and Dace plan to take their employees to the Agriculture Fair in Hanover, Germany. “They have been working very hard and we are here because of them,” says Dace.
Article by Public Relations Specialist Signeta Lapiņa
