What happened to the buying land in Eastern Europe idea.?

[thesilentone]

There are some interesting statistics somewhere regarding the ploughable hectares per head of population. This should also reflect in the levels of disposable income based on economic strength and the ability to grow/rear cheap food, and exports.

The Ukraine is one of the top Countries on hectares and land quality, however the economics are poor.

 

[Kidds]

I have had quite a few lads work for me from Russia, Ukraine, Belarus etc. They have all been absolutely astonished that my crops were unguarded. At home the ripe crops would be picked and taken away before you had chance. You could even turn up to harvest to find harvest was well underway by the "mafia" and you could do nothing about it.

 

[Pieces_of_Eight]

I was offered an interview by a company called "Black Earth Farming" about 4/5 years ago, who were looking for farm managers.

After a few questions it sounded like a real wild west type environment, absolutely lawless. It wasn't uncommon to arrive at a block of wheat just before harvest and find that some local natives had been right through the middle of it overnight with an 8ft header.

All the British managers had an interpreter, who stayed with them 24/7 and seemed to develop a knack of falling pregnant...

I'm glad I didn't go for it, as the war between Russia & Ukraine ripped the whole thing apart and the the company folded.

 

[PostHarvest]

I worked in Ukraine and Russia some time ago. In Ukraine a lot of foreign investors lost out when they didn't realise that a joint venture between a foreign investor and a local business was heavily loaded towards the local. If the foreigner owned less than 75% he didn't have control. And they had a bad habit of issuing new shares when the foreign partner was out of the country, diluting his holding. At that time Cargill was the only company that could guarantee that railway wagons full of grain would arrive with the same quality of grain they set out with.
One company I worked for in Russia was very excited over rented land at a few cents per hectare. Problem was when I checked the land, it wasn't even in Russia, it was in China!!

 

[Rossymons]

We used to have a Polish chap milking for us whilst I was at College.

One day the Food Standards inspector turned up for a spot check. Dad started chatting to the chap and our work disappeared upstairs.

5 minutes later he returned with a pile of cash and started putting in the inspectors hands! Dad was mortified but luckily FSA chap took it in good humour and no more was said.

Oh, should probably mention our chap was a Police Sergeant back in his homeland!

 

[caveman]

Wasn't Elmsted managing or such in Eastern Europe?

 

[Tractorstant]

I worked in Ukraine and Russia some time ago. In Ukraine a lot of foreign investors lost out when they didn't realise that a joint venture between a foreign investor and a local business was heavily loaded towards the local. If the foreigner owned less than 75% he didn't have control. And they had a bad habit of issuing new shares when the foreign partner was out of the country, diluting his holding. At that time Cargill was the only company that could guarantee that railway wagons full of grain would arrive with the same quality of grain they set out with.
One company I worked for in Russia was very excited over rented land at a few cents per hectare. Problem was when I checked the land, it wasn't even in Russia, it was in China!!

I remember reading an article about them, I was racking my brains to remember the company. Wasn't it run by some guy with a laptop in Switzerland? reminds me of that line from Layer Cake

 

[Johnnyboxer]

Secret to a happy marriage ,do as you’re told!!

A happy wife is a happy life !!

 

[matthew]

Wasn't Elmsted managing or such in Eastern Europe?

Romania?

 

[fredf]

Seem to remember been told tale about man from rushyford/old eldon way that went to farm russia/Ukraine, he was found dead in hotel room. Believe large dairy farm from Yorkshire way on that have low loaders had a family member out there. As said tales of corruption paying off local gang leaders and mafia related things were all told. Knew some one involved with pigs out there, they had to follow every wagon load of pig feed for fear of it been stolen.

The man who was dead in the Hotel room lived a few miles south still on the A167 just east of Aycliffe.

 

[Pigken]

I heard about that tale too. Land was cheap when Russia went tits up for a while when the break up/ breakaway carry on went on. The Yorkshire folk flew a combine out there had to pay protection and so forth. Don’t think it lasted long. Possibly made a few £££ and more importantly stayed alive.
A fella from Northumberland bought one in Poland years ago and they jailed him out there for a while. Thy didn’t like the idea of what he’d done so locked him up until they decided what to do about it.

There is or was a nice picture as you go into their office of main man standing in think field of wheat with lovely looking woman, when asked who she was, the interpretator. Think some of money made went into concreting their lane.

 

[Pigken]

The man who was dead in the Hotel room lived a few miles south still on the A167 just east of Aycliffe.

That's the one, did he live just of road on a funny bend, white stones on verge?

 

[PostHarvest]

Wasn't it run by some guy with a laptop in Switzerland?

Yes it was a company based just outside Geneva. The two partners were grain traders, but they did a lot more than work with a lap-top. They decided to pull out before they got in too deep when they realised they could make 10x more money by buying and trading a ship-load of grain than trying to grow it themselves. Black Earth Farming - I believe was headed by an ex-RAF type with no agricultural experience - tried to make a go of it for a few years and ended up short of $270 million.

 

[caveman]

As Ianto I feel that peoples eyes are off the ball. Might I please add this. In so much as I posted these some years ago. It appears that energy and food are not at the forefront of peoples minds as well of course water. Ir defies believe that by the end of this decade no one seems in political terms to have woken up to the hard reality of another Billion mouths to feed.

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And this

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And finally this

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Start from this quick link.
A wealth of knowledge

As to what happened.
He passed away a little while ago.

 

[czechmate]

Romania?

His previous name was « Danube «

 

[Chae1]

I went out on a farm tour to Estonia a few years ago. A Aberdeenshire farmer was farming in his own right out there and another had a share in a large scale dairy operation.

The guy that was farming in his own right and bought land had got in at the right time when land was cheap and they were actively looking for overseas investment. Land would be much more expensive now. He had a Estonian farm manager who seemed a capable guy.

Wouldn't worry about taking the wife, Russian women weren't shy.

 

[mwj]

The big corporations seem to have managed. Smithfield (US) control a lot of Poland's pig farms. And I say 'farms' guardedly, because they aren't farms as we would know them. Many are placed deep in the forests, and house thousands of sows, with effluent killing the forestry all around them. Unseen.
With land, when the eastern memebers of the EU first joined, only a national could own land or property, so the big lads, had to find a willing partner to put his name on the paperwork.
Cargill managed quite well, with thousands of acres of maize grown on what were the collective farms.

And as said, the 'mafia' culture is alive and well.

@Mathew if you check on Smithfield, it has been sold to the Chinese.

 

[Breakthru]

When the wall came down did some consultancy work in Poland. Danish interpreter showed me a picture of a polish guy and said did I recognise him.
Assumed he either had to be sporty or film oriented. Soon sussed it, bit of a dwarf so not sporty, slicked back hair double breasted suit. Straight out of the Sopranos. East of Warsaw 30% of everything went through him. Interpreter said his house was like Buck palace surrounded by guys with Klashes and Uzzis. His Polish was very good but was panicking in case he said something wrong as he was only worth a 20p bullet.

 

[glasshouse]

I was hired by the nuffield trust to work in russia in 93, i travelled out in january that year
The project folded after a month as they refused to lubricate the correct people.

 

[glasshouse]

I was offered a job running 25,000 acres in poland too, but wife not keen