A visit to Jonhild and Ottar Hentzé in Sandur, on the south coast of the Faroe Island Sandoy, where an A2 Rainstar ensures a timely vegetable harvest.
Ottar Hentzé and his wife Jonhild are the seventh generation to operate the family crop and dairy farm. With 20 dairy cows, more than 170 sheep, over 2,000 hectares of mountainous pasture as well as another 10 hectares for vegetables such as carrots, potatoes, cabbage and turnips, their farm is one of the largest on the archipelago.
The average annual precipitation ranges between 1,200 and 1,800 mm, in extreme years as much as 3,000 mm. “But most of the rain falls in the winter and never at the right time for the vegetables,” explains Ottar. Most of the vegetables are sold on the annual “Potato Day”. This is a market in autumn at which people from the entire island stock up on vegetables and meat for the winter. The A2, which Ottar purchased last winter at a trade fair in Denmark, irrigates with water from the nearby hill; the pipeline supplies it directly to the farm at +7 bar pressure. “The A2 must remain continuously in operation to guarantee an optimal harvest,” explains Ottar while sitting on the tractor.
Scene change, turnip field: Under Jonhild’s supervision, six students meticulously free the plants of weeds. It is arduous work that can only be done manually, but it’s also a good opportunity for the young people to earn some money in the summer.
While he milks the cows in the evening, Ottar speaks of the difficult conditions for farmers on the Faroe Islands. The small farms are still managed very traditionally, which means a large amount of manual labor and long work days. This also makes it difficult to find workers. But despite the hardships, Ottar is an enthusiastic farmer: “It’s our life, and we like it this way. We wouldn't trade it for anything else in the world,” he exclaims.
“Why did we decide on the Bauer A2? We need a compact, reliable and easy-to-operate machine with minimal maintenance requirements. We have to focus on the cultivation and the plants. The machine has to run on its own.”
Ottar Hentzé
