Þorvaldseyri - Local Sustainability / The project Cereals in the Arctic - New markets, which is funded by the NPA (Northern Periphery and Arctic Program) is now in full swing within Matís.
The aim of the project is to increase the value of grain products and thus contribute to increased income of grain farmers and companies, to promote grain cultivation where it is not currently practiced and thereby increase the number of jobs in agriculture and to increase the use of grain for the production of new products.
Part of the project turned to Þorvaldseyri under the Eyjafjöll mountains, one of the most productive grain farms in the country. Þorvaldseyri runs a cow farm with an emphasis on milk production, but there is a long tradition of growing barley on the farm and in recent years rapeseed has also been grown.
Þorvaldseyri came into the spotlight after the eruption of Eyjafjallajökull in 2010, when flights were down all over Europe, fields and fields disappeared in ash and livestock was in danger. After the eruption, it was clear that the ash had a strengthening effect on the arable land and provided opportunities for employment and innovation with the opening of the Visitor Center and the sale of various goods related to the eruption and food to tourists and consumers.
Þorvaldseyri offers very special conditions; the farm will have its own electricity production from a small power plant in the country, a borehole for hot water is on site, feed for the animals is mostly produced on site and all fertilizer is obtained from manure and by-products. Rapeseed oil is sold to consumers but also used as fuel for the equipment. Housekeeping can be sustainable for the most part; The farm's products are used as food, while vegetables and fruits are grown for their own consumption.
In the project this is called local sustainability; when that goal is achieved to become self-sufficient in most things related to energy and matter within a defined area. It is clear that it can be difficult to achieve full local sustainability in modern society, but nevertheless it is possible to build on this and create a basis for others.
An information sheet was prepared for Þorvaldseyri which describes this local sustainability and what impact it has on the environmental and social aspects. The Life Cycle Assessment methodology was used for calculations based on data from the farm. According to those calculations, the farm can save around ISK 19 million a year by using its own electricity and hot water, producing its own feed and fertilizer, using rapeseed oil on machines and producing its own food for the farm. Þorvaldseyri can also save around 18 tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions per year.
Food production depletes the earth's unsustainable resources and releases significant amounts of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere. Agriculture is not excluded. By adopting sustainability in thought and practice, there is a lot of work to be done, both financially and environmentally.