Description

Pracctice abstract

From the perspective of a farm business, the mountainous area in Romania can present barriers. Agricultural activities can be limited due to the weather conditions, the soil and the difficultly of the terrain (access and steep slopes). Livestock farms have been identified as successful over time and remain a very good option for those who want to farm in the mountainous areas of Romania.  

The mountainous area of Cluj County is characterized by numerous and small livestock farms, but in recent years there has been reduction in the number of farms and the farm area. Farmers in the mountain area usually own their land but when it comes to grazing, there are also areas of land belonging to the territorial administrative unit with the status of commonage that can be used by all villagers, for the purpose of grazing.  

Niculina Roba, graduate of the Faculty of Horticulture and Rural Development Business, study program Economic Engineering in Agriculture. Together with her family, she manages a farm of 8 dairy cows, Bălțată Românească. The farm is located in the village of Măguri, Cluj County and has a grazing area of 8 ha. Locating the animals daily on the pasture can be a problem on the farm as the animals can travel around 17 km a day in the mountainous area and sometimes have difficulty getting home. In these situations, the Roba family had to go personally to look for the animals, which was time and labour consuming. One solution identified by the Roba family was the purchase of GPS trackers for the cows. These were purchased through the EU funds, sub-measure 6.3 and cost around €100 each. The devices are sim-card based and emit GPS signals. Now they can much more easily locate animals in mountain pastures. What’s more, the technology holds potential for wider adoption, especially in areas with extensive grasslands, and can be particularly useful for monitoring animals with health problems or those about to calve.  

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