On the 19th March 2010 in hotel The Westin Warsaw in Warsaw took place the closing ceremony of the 16th the Countrywide FARMER OF THE YEAR Competition.
The winners of the 16th edition of the Farmer of the Year Competition:
– in the category of family farms up to 50 ha – Anna and Zbigniew Serafin from Podkarpackie Voivodeship; the farm of 36ha oriented only on milk production. Every year their cows take part in Regional Breeding Animals Exhibitions and win main prizes;
– in the category of family farms from 50 to 100 ha – Beata and Zdzisław Butka from Mazowieckie Voivodeship; their farm specializes in pig fattening. Annually 15 thousand pigs until average weight 118 kg are sold. The farmers started to build a construction of next fattening house for several thousand units;
– in the category of family farms over 100 ha – Rajmund Gąsiorek from Wielkopolskie Voivodeship; In 1977 Mr. Gąsiorek started furred animals breeding. Now the farm is the biggest one in Poland specializing in minks and one the biggest in Europe. The farm utilizes 25 thousand tons of slaughterhouse waste per year, contributing to natural environment protection;
– in the category of farms with alternative sources of income – Tamara and Edward Przyłuccy from Warmińsko-Mazurskie Voivodeship; their farm is e multidirectional one with grain (130ha), rape (105ha), beef cattle pedigree breeding and pig fattening. Agrotouristic activity is a supplement of an agricultural activity;
– in the category of horticulture and nursery production – Joanna and Dariusz Piotrowscy from Łódzkie Voivodeship; in the farmers’ orchard are apple trees, pear trees and plum trees. The harvested fruit is transported into sorting plant accommodation fully equipped with a fruit sorting line and after that the fruit is stored in cold room with automatically controlled atmosphere and Smart Fresh System that improves its quality;
– in the category of agricultural enterprises – Konrad Pohl from Opolskie Voivodeship; in 1973 Mr. Pohl inherited a 21 ha farm from his parents and he was systematically enlarged his farm to over 2.000 ha. Multidirectional production was replaced with specialized plant production and favourable climate of Opolszczyzna agrees with it perfectly.
The Competition Committee awarded the following participants who qualified for the final:
- Maria and Szczepan Będzikowscy (Mazowieckie Voivodeship) for multidirectional animals breeding,
- Eugenia and Czesław Januszewscy (Kujawsko – Pomorskie Voivodeship) for pig breeding,
- Małgorzata and Andrzej Karwowscy (Warmińsko – Mazurskie Voivodeship) for innovative animal breeding methods,
- Jolanta and Jan Monach (Podlaskie Voivodeship) for dynamic farm development,
- Barbara and Leszek Przybytniak (Mazowieckie Voivodeship) for an intensive orchard production,
- Anna and Jerzy Wawrzyńczak (Mazowieckie Voivodeship) for dairy cattle breeding,
- Krystyna and Zbigniew Ziejewscy (Warmińsko-Mazurskie Voivodeship) for intensive poultry production.
Prizewinners in all the categories were given the FARMER OF THE YEAR title and the “Golden Apple” statuette, the symbol of the Competition. The prizewinners also received congratulating letters from the President of the Republic of Poland, and in kind prizes from firms that co-operate with “Polish club FARMER OF THE YEAR” Association. Traditionally, the prizewinners also received paintings with an inscription from the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development.
Full details information about the 16th Editon of the Competition, the lists of finalists and semi-finalist, characteristics of the awarded Winners and Laureates are presented in the Occasional Publication.