Learn to listen to yourself “There has to be more to life than construction while investing”

Sirkku and Mika took over as the successors of Mika’s parents in 1997. At first they built the house where they currently live.. The barn built by Mika’s father had room for 20 dairy cows. The old barn was initially expanded so that there was a maximum of 25 cows. The youngest of the couple’s children was born in 2006. In 2007, the construction of a new barn commenced on a different plot of land. In 2008, the new barn was ready, with a milking station and 80 cows. When moving to a new barn in 2008, the amount of work did not decrease rather it increased. A few years later, covered slab silos were built. There is a lot of work involved in increasing production and it takes quite a long time. Sirkku says that at that time she was working all her waking hours. During the barn-working time, the grandparents were taking care of the children. After coming back from farm work, Sirkku continued with childcare and home care. She lost all other contacts and only had enough time for errands. Mika was responsible for field work and construction work, which has been going on continuously on the farm. In 2011, Sirkku fell ill with depression and was on sick leave. At the beginning, a substitute was hired to help in the barn, so that Sirkku’s workload could be reduced. Before Sirkku got sick, they had no paid labor on the farm; the grandparents were somewhat helpful.

In the years before Sirkku’s illness, a lot of investments had been made on  the farm, which is why the economical burden from the loan was also high. When thinking about hiring an employee, there was the pressure that they have to manage by themselves. The investments had been made in a financially sustainable way, because a lot of personal work input was used in the construction. On the other hand, the large share of personal work burden caused its own pressure. In the end, it went well in terms of getting an employee. A person from the village came to ask for a job when his previous job duties with another employer were about to end. Now he has been working on the farm for 12 years.

Over the years, the children also grew up and participated in the farm work. In 2020, the barn was expanded and there are currently two milking robots. Sirkku and Mika have their own areas of responsibility. Sirkku has planned the functional design of the barn – how to make the old barn and the extension part into a functional unit. Sirkku is primarily responsible for animal fertility, breeding and maintaining records, Mika is responsible for the economic aspects, machines and field duties. The children contribute a lot in the field work. Breeding was done using their own animals rather than buying animals. Increasing production has thus been slower, but the animal lineage is in better control. A cottage in the nearby area offers Mika and Sirkku a place for relaxation.