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MELLBY GÅRD FARM

      Continued focus on
circularity and sustainability

    The farm that shares its name with the Group has been owned by the
Andersson family since 1986. It was pure luck that gave Rune Andersson the

  opportunity to buy it after the previous buyer pulled out of the deal. The
 agricultural operation is located just outside Hässleholm, in Skåne county,

                    and consists of forest, arable and pasture land.

In addition to this land, Mellby Gård also has large-scale production         included calculating our environmental impact in terms of CO2e. The
      of pigs for slaughter and suckle cows, and breeds fallow deer for       results of the calculations show that the farm makes a positive impact
      Eriksberg Hotel & Nature Reserve. The deer are transported to           on the environment.”
Eriksberg, where they live in the large nature reserve known for its
extensive diversity of wildlife.                                              THE FUTURE OF AGRICULTURE

AN INTERMEDIATE YEAR                                                          Mellby Gård has a long-term strategy that forms the basis for the work
                                                                              of Petter Beckman and his employees. This work takes place on a daily
2023 was a challenging year for farmers in Sweden due to a dry spring         basis and will continue in the coming years.
and a wet summer. This posed during the year a challenge in terms of
profitability, but due to it being a diversified business, the agricultural     “In our long-term strategy, we look at acquiring properties that are
operation at Mellby Gård had a profitable year. Petter Beckman,               for sale, provided they are right for us in the strategic sense,” he says.
Agricultural Operations Manager, explains:                                   “We’re also exploring other types of investments to ensure profitability
                                                                              and further our ongoing work on circularity to establish more
  “When we sum up the year, we can see it was another strong year for         sustainable agricultural operations.”
forestry. This is due to high demand for timber and high timber prices.
We expect prices to stabilize in the future, which we’re taking into             Looking ahead, Petter Beckman hopes for a stable year for all
account in our felling plans.”                                                the farm’s business areas and further opportunities to improve the
                                                                              business.
INVESTMENTS IN SUSTAINABLE AGRICULTURE
                                                                                “2023 was a year of many uncertainties that we have now put behind
In recent years, several initiatives have been implemented to increase        us,” says Petter Beckman. “We’re now hoping for a stable year in which
the farm’s circularity and biodiversity.                                      high demand for Swedish food continues, so that we can maintain
                                                                              Swedish food production. At Mellby Gård, we’re working to ensure long-
  “We operate in semi-rural areas,” says Petter Beckman. “This means          term and profitable development.”
we have mostly forests, and the conditions for grain are less favourable.
Our business is therefore adapted to the conditions on the farm. We                                  Petter Beckman,
use wood chips from our own forest for heating, while feed for the                              Operations Manager
animals comes from locally produced grain and by-products from
the food industry. We use fertilizer from the farm to nourish the grass,
which then becomes feed for the cows.”

   The farm’s circular initiatives will contribute to more sustainable
operations. Last year, investments were made in solar panels to
minimize the carbon footprint and contribute to the farm’s profitability.

  “We think it’s important to do what we can to contribute to a more
sustainable world and play our part,” says Petter Beckman. “This has

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