Photo: Archive of the farm in Držovice, with permission/Goat farms in Držovice
Farm and small business owners are going through an extremely difficult time. The crisis is destroying their traditional customers and it seems that this situation will not end anytime soon. “We are fighting as hard as we can, if this situation lasts for a long time, this season may be our last,” Jana Laušmanová from the well-known goat farm in Držovice told our editors.
The blow to farmers came during the last year after the increase in the prices of energy, fuel and raw materials. The biggest disaster came when small grocery stores started to fail.
As a result, farmers lost their old customers. “The crisis hit us hard. The possibility of selling our products is decreasing for us, because there has been a total collapse of the small shops that we have been supplying for years. We have shipped our products to these stores for many years. Dozens of them ended last year. Now, at least one store collapses a week and it’s a huge loss for us,” declared Jana Laušmanová.
“We also see a big drop from restaurant and cafe owners. There was a boom before covid. Everyone wanted to have one of our products on offer in their company. But now they are fighting for survival alone. We are looking for a new outlet and after 15 years we are again going to farmers’ markets. But we are not 20 anymore, so it is quite exhausting for us. We also have to do more marketing and advertising, and that in turn keeps us from working on the farm. It’s not easy,” added the farmer.
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The crisis has already forced farm owners to raise the prices of cheese and other products. But they ran into a price ceiling, as their products would be unsaleable. “Primarily, the prices of fertilizers and diesel forced us to increase the price of our products. But we can’t go any higher, because no one would buy our cheeses and other products at all. Some goat farms have already closed and others are ending goat breeding. I also know farms that raise cows and produce their own products. They have now forced an end to that and are now only taking the milk for purchase,” he points out.
Not to give up
In the period of covid, when the pandemic closed restaurants and shops, Jana Laušmanová experienced the most beautiful moments on the farm. He will probably never experience a similar situation again. The crisis hit everyone. “We experienced the most beautiful period during covid. When the pandemic hit and closed the shops, people showed great solidarity with us. In order to support us, they ordered our goods in bulk in the e-shop. They came to shop even directly to us with masks on their faces and behaved amazingly. But now the situation is completely different. But the crisis hit all of us, and now everyone has to save every penny,” says the farmer.
For now, she is determined not to give up.
But everything has its limits.
And so the fate of the goat farm in Držovice may be decided this year. “It was always a struggle. For now, my husband and I are not giving up and are leaning into it with all our might. We’ll see how the markets turn out at Easter. This is such a turning point and indicator in the season every year. But if the crisis continues for a long time, this season might be our last,” concluded the farmer.
Farm in Držovice was founded by Jakub and Jana Laušman in 2001 and is one of the oldest and best-known in the Bohemian Central Mountains.
