Anything to do with potatoes
After having finished their agricultural studies, Irena and Andrzej Paszota were looking for a temporary job – and found the opportunity of a lifetime. They were 28 years old and not really aware of the risk they were taking by leasing a 500 ha farm.
It was not easy, but their assiduous work paid off. 30 years later, they farm 1 000 ha and have established three divisions that all have to do with potatoes the cultivation of which is the basis of the farm. “We really started from scratch. The state of the farm we took over was catastrophic and required enormous investments. In the first year, there was a major drought and we hardly managed to get back on our feet again. The next few years, too, were difficult. It was only after we signed a contract with the crisps manufacturer Farm Frites Poland in 1997 that we were able to build up and further develop the farm. And finally, we were so successful that we were able to buy the farm in instalments in 2003”, Andrzej Paszota remembers.
Potatoes as the main crop
The farm is located on the site of former plant breeding station that had specialised in potatoes in Podole Wielkie in the voivodship of Pomerania, only about 20 km away from the coast of the Baltic Sea. The old distillery which was built in the second half of the 19th century gives the farm a nostalgic charm. Due to the commitment of Irena and Andrzej Paszota, it is still in use today. For some years now, it has mainly been run by their daughter-in-law Paulina and their son Michał who produce their own brand of fine aquavits and vodkas. It thus is no longer just an agricultural distillery, but also a craft distillery.
Potatoes (250 ha), cereals (400 ha) and rapeseed (150 ha) are grown in Podole Wielkie. The remaining land is grassland. The rotation is obvious: cereals are sown after potatoes, then rapeseed followed by cereals. The cycle starts again with potatoes. They grow early winter wheat varieties to make sure the following catch crop can develop as much green material as possible before ploughing in winter for the potatoes. The main crop in the cereal sector is wheat. Moreover, rye and barley are grown on a small area which are partly delivered to the own distillery.
By now, the Paszota farm is established as a manufacturer of potatoes for French fries and crisps as well as table potatoes. Part of it goes to the factory of Farm Frites Poland, part to the distillery and another part is intended for consumption. Since 2020, the farm has been part of the Polski Ziemniak group (en.: Polish potato) that consists of more than a dozen local farmers. They deliver the potatoes which the company packs and sells. This divison is still being developed. The plan is to sell 100 000 t of table potatoes per year. Therefore, potatoes are the basis for all three branches: the farm, the distillery and the trading company.
Modernisation of the machinery
The lease of the farm in 1993 also included the purchase of the existing machines. However, these were tractors and machines that dated back to the time of the state-run farms of the People’s Republic of Poland and thus were not really suitable for modern, profitable farming. Therefore, they were replaced step by step by state-of-the-art machines, mainly from Western manufacturers. The potato fields are ploughed as according to Andrzej Paszota there is no other way to prepare the soil for this crop.
“For quite a long time, I had been looking for a seed drill for cereals and rapeseed that could also be used in wet conditions. This is a recurring challenge on our farm: The search for a compromise between seeding at the – from an agronomic point of view – right time and the optimum soil moisture. After the potato harvest, the field often is downright ravaged. And the time for seeding is short. Thus, it may happen that some areas of the field are still very wet at the time of seeding. Not every seed drill can work in such conditions. This is why I went for a HORSCH Pronto 4 DC. I have been using it for eight years and I have already seeded more than 3,400 ha with it. To be able to seed in extremely wet soils, we removed the uniformers from the seed coulters. This really has proved its worth for our purposes“, Andrzej Paszota explains.
Precision Farming from seeding to crop care
At the moment, Irena and Andrzej Paszota use a variable nitrogen fertilisation with the NDVI index derived from satellite pictures. “We decided not to reduce the total amount of fertiliser but to split it based on the yield potential of the plants that grow on the respective parts of the field. This is why the metering quantities range from 120 to 270 kg nitrogen on heterogeneous soils”, Andrzej Paszota comments.
Further Precision Farming solutions are to be introduced on the farm in the coming years. The plan is to start with variable seeding using yield potential maps. Andrzej Paszota thinks about buying a HORSCH Focus seed drill that also allows for applying mineral fertiliser based on application maps. This fertiliser is an ammonium phosphate that is metered according to the phosphor content of the soil. “In my opinion, another major saving results from the variable use of crop care agents, especially fungicides and growth regulators. Conventional spraying means that the highest application rate is applied to plants that do not need it, i.e. also to plants that grow in weak areas of the field. The strongest areas, however, often get a dose that is too low. Treatment based on yield potential maps solves this problem“, Andrzej Paszota says.
Sensational boom
The farm has been using a HORSCH Leeb 5 LT trailed sprayer for five years. “The boom stabilisation of the machine is sensational. The boom is guided above the plants at a low height und ensures that precision is maintained even in case of gusts of wind. Despite the working width of 36 m, the height above the soil or the population remains constant. No other manufacturer’s sprayer that is used by our neighbours can keep up with this”, Andrzej Paszota states.
He wants to introduce strip spraying for potatoes. His idea was a solution where the nozzles are mounted on the boom every 22.5 cm. This would be in line with the ridge spacing of 90 cm. But Paweł Miś, the product specialist of HORSCH Polska, recommended a system where one plant row is sprayed by two nozzles that are positioned at the right angle – using specifically designed nozzle bodies. “This solution is particularly interesting for potato farms as the two nozzles can be aligned facing the ridge. This solution can be retrofitted to the HORSCH Leeb 5 LT sprayer the farm uses. So they don’t have to buy a new sprayer“, Paweł Miś explains.
Andrzej Paszota appreciates the fact that with the HORSCH Leeb sprayer he can work in extreme soil conditions which often occur when spraying potatoes. There sometimes even is water between the ridges. “The large tyres of the sprayer can even work in mud”, Andrzej Paszota says. From an agricultural point of view, this is a compromise. But he thinks that it is better to damage the soil structure locally than to have all potato plants destroyed by pathogens.
“My next sprayer is to adjust the spraying quantity to the size of the plants. The dose per biomass unit should be constant. This requires an appropriate software and a system that allows for varying the amount of liquid from the nozzle over a very wide range. There are already machines with pulse width modulation system on the market“, Andrzej Paszota says. Paweł Miś adds: “HORSCH already has such a system – PrecisionSpray that integrates a PWM pulse width modulation system into the software of the sprayer. Thus, the well-known user interface of the HORSCH Leeb sprayers can be maintained.”
Distillery as a gem
When visiting the farm Podole Wielkie, you immediately notice the historic building of the distillery where raw spirits with 91-92% vol. of alcohol are produced. It is mainly made of potatoes and sold to vodka producers. The annual production amounts to approx. 2 million litres which requires almost 20,000 t of potatoes. It is the largest distillery in Poland that produces potato spirit.
The distillery is mainly run by Paulina and Michał Paszota. But they do not limit themselves to an agricultural distillation. They also produce unique craft spirits: aquavit and vodka. They are produced in the same building, but the production process is completely artisanal. The first aquavit of Podole Wielkie was produced in 2015. Every vintage has its own face in the truest sense of the word: there always is the face of a former or current employee of the distillery on the label. Some spirits are stored in barrels which after having matured for at least three years give them unique flavours. The spirits from the Podole Wielkie distillery have already won dozens of medals in Polish or foreign competitions. They are produced according to the motto “From the field into the bottle”, i.e. exclusively from products that are harvested on the fields of the farm.
But why did the distillery in Podole Wielkie not share the fate of many other distilleries in Poland and go bankrupt? “I decided to use straw as a fuel. This ensured the profitability of the distillery. We still use this source of heat today. This is why we collect all the straw on our fields and additionally buy it from local farmers. The distiller’s residue and the ashes from burning the straw is then reused on our fields”, Andrzej Paszota points out.
