NIHTILÄ FARM
This farm has been cultivated since 1539. It has been known as Nihtilä Farm since 1885. I am the 7th generation of farmers on this farm and the first female farmer. I became a farmer in 2021 after buying the farm from my father, Perttu.
Crop production
The farm currently produces, among other things, malting barley, bread wheat, feed peas and forage grasses. The crop rotation is diverse and a great deal of attention is paid to soil fertility. Since the arrival of sheep on the farm, the area of grassland in the rotation has been significantly increased, and the grasslands now also generate income. In addition, the farm includes commercial forest, biodiversity fields, buffer zones and a voluntarily protected nature reserves. Crop production is run in cooperation with my uncle and cousin; we share machinery and grain dryers and cultivate three farms in Kärkölä together.
Lamb meat production
The focus is on high-quality lamb meat production using three-breed crossbreeding. The farm also raises purebred Norwegian sheep breed Rygja as breeding animals. In breeding selections, preference is given to a durable, medium-sized / fairly large, good-milking ewe that is an efficient feed converter and has strong maternal traits. Attention is paid to the uniform appearance of the flock so that feeding and grouping can be kept as simple as possible.
Diverse grass mixtures, clean pastures and hybrid vigor ensure good growth for the lambs. The aim is for the lambs to graze clover-grass leys and not return during the summer to any paddock that has already been grazed once. The ewes and breeding rams manage environmental grasslands and buffer zones and also carry out a small amount of landscape management. The objectives are somewhat hampered by wolves moving in the area, which have forced a reduction in pasture use and the installation of predator fencing around grazing areas.
The flock is included in performance recording, and a great deal of systematic preventive work is done to promote good sheep health. The farm is also a partner farm of the University of Helsinki Production Animal Hospital, meaning veterinary medicine students visit to learn about sheep and ovine veterinary medicine.
Sheep research
Already during studies it was clear that the focus would be on sheep. There is no specialization training in small ruminants in Finland, so doctoral research was an obvious choice to deepen expertise in sheep, produce domestic, research-based knowledge about sheep and, in this way, hopefully benefit the entire sheep sector in Finland. The research is part of the broader Makera-funded SheepWell project, in which work is carried out part-time from 2025 to 2027. The articles will examine the effect of sheep cleanliness on meat quality and safety. The ambitious project also considers the impact of overall sheep welfare on the final product and aims to produce practical “indicators” that can be used on farms to monitor and improve sheep welfare.
