Irena and Andrzej Paszot, after agricultural studies, were looking for a job for a short while, but they saw the opportunity of a lifetime. When they were 28 years old and not fully aware of the risk they were taking, they rented a 500-hectare farm. It was hard, but thanks to persistent work, it worked.
After 30 years, they farm 1,000 ha and develop three family businesses that involve potatoes. It is mainly this cultivation, carried out for years with passion and commitment, that allowed us to achieve success.
– We started from the proverbial zero, and the farm we took over was in terrible condition and required huge investments. In the first year we experienced a great drought and barely recovered. The following years were also difficult. Only signing a contract in 1997 with a French fries producer (Farm Frites Poland) allowed us to develop the farm. So effectively that in 2003 we were able to buy them in installments – recalls Andrzej Paszota.
Potato basin
We are talking about a farm established on the site of the Plant Breeding Station dealing with potato breeding in Podole Wielkie in the province. Pomeranian. This is an interesting place located only about 20 km from the Baltic Sea. What makes it even more charming is the distillery, established in the second half of the 19th century. Thanks to the commitment and entrepreneurship of Irena and Andrzej Paszot, it still operates today. For several years, the distillery has been run mainly by their daughter-in-law Paulina and son Michał, who are developing their own brand of noble spirits and vodkas. So it is no longer just an agricultural distillery, but also a craft distillery.
Podole Wielkie grows potatoes (250 ha), cereals (400 ha) and rapeseed (150 ha). The remaining area is covered by grassland. Crop rotation is simple – after potatoes, cereals are sown, then rapeseed, then cereals again and the next cycle begins with planting potatoes. Early varieties of winter wheat are selected so that the catch crop sown after them develops as much green mass as possible before winter plowing for potatoes. The crops grown are mainly wheat and, on a smaller area, rye and barley, some of which goes to the distillery.
Persistent agricultural practice means that the farm of Irena and Andrzej Paszot is today a recognized producer of french fries, crisps and edible potatoes. Some of them go to the Farm Frites Poland factory, some to the distillery, and some are intended for consumption. Since 2020, the farm has belonged to the Polski Ziemniak group, which brings together several local farmers. They supply potatoes, which the company packages and distributes. This business is still in the development stage. The plans assume sales of 100,000. tons of edible potatoes per year. Potatoes are therefore the basis of three businesses – a farm, a distillery and a trading company.
The machinery has been replaced
The lease of the farm in 1993 also meant the purchase of the machinery there. Unfortunately, these were tractors and machines from the era of Polish State Agricultural Farms (PGR), on which the future of agricultural technology could not be built. Therefore, the equipment was systematically replaced with more modern ones, mainly of Western production. The fields for potatoes are plowed because, according to Andrzej Paszot, there is no other way to prepare loose soil for this crop.
– I have been looking for a long time for a grain and rapeseed seeder that would be able to handle wet areas of fields. This is a recurring challenge on our farm caused by the search for a compromise between sowing at a convenient agrotechnical date and optimal soil moisture. After harvesting potatoes, the field is often ruined and there is little time for cultivation. Therefore, it happens that during sowing we come across very wet parts of the field. Not every seeder can cope with such conditions. That’s why I chose Horsch Pronto 4 DC. I have been using it for 8 years and it has already sown over 3,400 ha. Looking for the possibility of sowing in extremely moist soil, we dismantled the pressure whiskers of the sowing coulters. This change turned out to be effective and that’s how we work – explains Andrzej Paszota.
Precision agriculture from sowing to protection
Currently, variable nitrogen fertilization is used on the fields of Irena and Andrzej Paszot’s farm based on the NDVI index obtained from satellite images. – We decided not to reduce the total amount of fertilizer used, but to divide it based on the yield potential of plants growing in given parts of the field. Therefore, doses range from 120 to 270 kg of nitrogen on mosaic soils – explains Andrzej Paszota.
An agricultural entrepreneur from Podole Wielkie intends to introduce further precision farming solutions in the coming years. In his opinion, they should start with variable sowing based on yield potential maps. He is considering purchasing a Focus seeder, which would also allow him to sow mineral fertilizer based on application maps. This would be ammonium phosphate dosed based on the soil’s phosphorus content. – In my opinion, further great savings will come from the variable use of plant protection products, mainly fungicides and growth regulators. Traditional spraying means that plants that do not need it, i.e. growing in weak parts of the field, receive the largest dose of chemicals. However, the strongest doses are often too small. Spraying based on a yield potential map solves this problem, says Andrzej Paszota.
A fantastic field boom
The Horsch Leeb 5 LT trailed sprayer has been operating in Podole Wielkie for 5 years. – This is a machine with excellent boom stabilization. Conducted at a low height above the plants, it allows us to maintain spraying accuracy even in gusts of wind. Despite its 36 m working width, it maintains the height above the ground or crop perfectly. None of the sprayers from other manufacturers working in neighboring fields can compare with this solution, says Andrzej Paszota.
An agricultural entrepreneur from Podole Wielkie plans to introduce strip spraying in potatoes. He was thinking about a solution consisting in spacing the nozzles on the field boom every 22.5 cm, which would fit into the ridge spacing of 90 cm. However, Paweł Miś from Horsch Polska recommends a system of spraying one row of plants with two nozzles set at an appropriate angle, thanks to bodies dedicated for this purpose. – This solution is particularly interesting for farms growing potatoes because it allows two nozzles to be placed at an angle on the ridge. The Horsch Leeb 5 LT sprayer used on the Podole Wielkie farm can be retrofitted with this solution. There is no need to purchase a new plant protection machine – explains Paweł Miś, product specialist at Horsch Polska.
An agricultural entrepreneur from Podole Wielkie appreciates the ability to work with the Horsch Leeb 5 LT sprayer in extreme soil conditions. They often occur when spraying potatoes, where sometimes there is even water standing in the ridges. – The sprayer’s large wheels allow it to overcome even considerable mud – says Andrzej Paszota. This is another agricultural compromise – it is better to destroy the soil structure locally than to allow pathogens to finish off the potato plants.
– My next spraying machine should select the amount of working liquid depending on the size of the plants. The dose per unit of biomass should be constant. This requires appropriate software and a system that allows you to change the amount of liquid from the sprayer over a very wide range. Observing the market, I see that machines with a pulsed spraying system can do this, says Andrzej Paszota. – Horsch already has such a system. This is PrecisionSpray, which integrates the PWM pulse width modulation system with the sprayer software. This allowed us to maintain the user interface familiar to Horsch Leeb sprayer operators – adds Paweł Miś.
The distillery is a gem of a farm
When visiting the farm in Podole Wielkie, the historic building of the distillery attracts attention. This is where raw spirit with a strength of 91-92% is produced. It is made mainly from potatoes and is sold to vodka producers. Annual production is approximately 2 million liters, which requires nearly 20,000. tons of potatoes. It is the largest distillery in Poland producing potato spirit.
The distillery is mainly run by Paulina and Michał Paszota. However, they do not limit themselves to running an agricultural distillery, but also create unique craft alcohols. These are spirits (an old Polish term for a high-proof alcoholic beverage) and vodka. They are made in the same building, but their production process is artisanal. The first batch of Podole Wielkie spirit was produced in 2015. Each vintage has its own patron. These were former or current distillery employees. Some alcohols are stored in barrels, which gives them unique flavors after aging for at least 3 years. Spirits from the Podole Wielkie distillery have already won dozens of medals at Polish and foreign competitions. They are made under the slogan “From field to bottle”, i.e. only from products harvested from the farm’s fields.
How did it happen that the distillery in Podole Wielkie did not share the fate of most similar facilities in Poland and go bankrupt? – The profitability of the distillery was saved by my decision to switch to straw firing. We still use this heat source today. That’s why we collect all the straw and buy it from local farmers. The distillery stillage and ash left after burning the straw return to our fields, explains Andrzej Paszota.
Irena and Andrzej Paszota and Paulina and Michał Paszota treat their work not only as a family business. For them, it is a common vision of a modern estate in which not only doing business is important. This is their common home where they live and want to live in harmony with nature. Hence the mentioned plans to invest in precision farming machines. Another idea is to build a biogas plant, which would mainly receive distillery stillage. The plans are already ready and all that remains is to obtain consent to connect to the power grid.
