Farmers Seppo ja Anita Junttila

Farmers Seppo and Anita Junttila

Seppo and Anita Junttila´s farm is situated in Temmes. The line of their business is agriculture, they are entrepreuners. The farm was founded in 1977, so they have been working there for 21 years. These two are the two main workers, but in the summer their sons are working, too. Their business idea is to sell milk and meat as much as possible.
	Anita & Seppo Junttila's house

They don’t have any international contacts, only Finnish ones. They sell their produce to the Liminka dairy and it is refined in further different kind of milk products. After Finland became a member of the EU, prices have fallen to half what they were. That’s why the agriculture is not well-paid work. And the paperwork has doubled. Today you have to write down everything what you have done. EU tells you when you can sow and reap the harvest. Half of the earnings comes from the EU. The EMU or the Eurosystems don’t affect the company much, because Finland is already in the EU.
If you want to become a farmer you have to study agriculture and forestry economy. But Seppo Junttila is an exception, because he doesn’t have any education in this line of work.

This company handles the environmental issues in a friendly manner. At the river coast there is an area of about five meters that they don’t pollute, because they want to protect it. They also take care of forests by thinning them and trying not to use any poison.

Seppo and his son

The company doesn’t usually employ young people for summer work, but last summer they had a guy who painted the house. The company has developed during the past few years by acquiring a new tractor, building new animal stables for the cows in the cowhouse and by taking more fields for rent. There is one threat in sight concerning finance, and it is the EU. The EU is taking some money from their budget and the salary will go down about 10%.

The farmer’s ordinary workday is waking up at 6 a.m. in the morning when the farmer goes to milk the cows. He is doing that every day despite seasons or weather. The municipality of Temmes has taken a positive view to his company. They don’t actually have any co-operation with the municipality of Temmes. The company pays just taxes to the municipality. Seppo and Anita Junttila’s wishes to the municipality and national decision makers are that they wouldn’t demand so much taxes of them. They have given up producing meat and just concenrate on producing milk.