Luminor supports the development of Pilskalni farm with 650 thousand euros

  • 2022-10-26

Luminor Bank has granted 650,000 euros to ZS Pilskalni, a dairy farm in Latvia, Talsi Municipality. The financing is intended for the purchase of farm equipment, new agricultural machinery, and reconstruction works.

"The dairy sector is very important for both agriculture and food production. As Latvia produces more than we consume, milk and dairy products are also an important export commodity, so we are happy to support the development of this sector. We have seen that Pilskalni is a professionally managed farm with very well considered development plans. It is important that the farm is thinking about improving efficiency and purchasing more modern equipment and machinery to increase productivity," says Ilze Zoltnere, Head of Corporate Banking at Luminor in Latvia.

ZS Pilskalni manages 320 hectares of agricultural land, of which about a third is owned by the farm. ZS Pilskalni owns 243 cattle, 128 of which are dairy cows.

"To be competitive, we need to think constantly about the development of the farm and plan our finances very carefully, so for this project we brought in a consultant from SIA Leveria to help us assess the viability of the investment. For this reason, we have decided to modernise the farm's equipment by introducing robotic milking, which will significantly increase milk yield. The development of the farm would not have been possible without the bank's support, so we are pleased with the cooperation and the funding we have received," says Gita Mastjaņica, owner of ZS Pilskalni.

The farm has been active in dairy farming since 2004. It also grows crops to provide the cattle with the necessary amount of feed. The permanent grassland covers about 230 hectares, winter wheat 26 hectares, spring wheat 30 hectares, and oats 17 hectares.