Alīna Jermacāne and her family run a farm in Tilža Parish, Balvi Municipality, continuing the work begun by her parents, Benedikts and Aina Zelči, in 1998. The farm’s main activity used to be dairy farming, but when Alīna took over the farm in 2015, she decided to focus solely on rearing beef cattle. Today, she carries out the day-to-day work alongside her husband, and their grown-up children also lend a hand.

“Skujeniekos” manages around 120 hectares of grassland, including meadows of high biological value. Most of the land is unimproved, so farming practices have to be adapted to natural conditions. For example, part of the pasture is separated from the rest of the farm by a river, which can only be crossed by machinery during dry summers. For the cattle, however, this is no obstacle – they can swim across the river themselves! The Hereford cattle reared on the farm thrive in such pastures; Alīna has found them to be particularly well-suited to the meadows in this area. Whilst grazing, they not only make use of the natural forage provided by the grasslands, but also help to preserve the meadows’ biodiversity and prevent them from becoming overgrown.

Alīna first became acquainted with biologically valuable meadows quite by chance – when one of the landowners leased a grassland to the farm, which turned out to be biologically valuable. At first, she had to learn the requirements for managing it, but training and visits to other farms gradually sparked a growing interest in the riches of natural meadows and their conservation.

Gradually, the management of natural meadows has become an integral part of life at “Skujenieki”. Alīna and her family are continuing the work started by her parents, whilst at the same time forging their own path in farming, where caring for the livestock goes hand in hand with the conservation of the natural meadows of Northern Latgale.