Agrofirma Tērvete
Manure is digested into biogas (power and heat); the digestate fertilises the fields.
AS “Agrofirma Tērvete” is a modern, multi-branch agricultural producer. Its operations are built as closed-loop farming, both to protect the surrounding environment and to use resources efficiently.
The company has five branches: crop farming, dairy farming, horse breeding, biogas production, and food retail and catering. Agrofirma Tērvete currently employs 190 people and manages 2972 hectares of land.
Dairy farming
Ten years ago AS “Agrofirma Tērvete” built and opened a new large dairy farm, “Tērces”. It runs on new technology: indoor microclimate control, automatic ventilation regulation, improved sanitary conditions for the animals and automated milking on a rotary parlour.
Crop farming
Crops play a very important role in the company. The task of the crop branch is not only to grow produce for sale but also to supply the other branches with raw material: high-quality feed for the dairy and horse units, brewing barley for the brewery and silage for biogas production.
Food and drink production
The “Tērvete” brewery, built in 1971, now offers not only beer but also kvass, drinking water, cocktails and flavoured waters. Practically all the raw material it uses is grown by the company on its own land.
Industrial symbiosis at the company
Over the past 10 years the company has invested more than 15 million euro in building and developing its industrial symbiosis. Modernisation and investment in technology have made it the fastest-growing drinks producer in Latvia, shown by its 2020 output of 10 000 m³ of beverages.
Turning cattle manure into biogas is one of the company's most significant activities. The process starts with collecting the manure, which is then sent to the biogas reactor. Inside the reactor biological decomposition produces biogas, which is captured and cleaned of impurities.
In the next stage the biogas is burned to produce electricity and heat. It powers two generators, of 0.5 MW and 1.5 MW.
The energy produced is used for the company's own needs and also sold. Heat goes to the brewery, the horse unit, the dairy farm and the heating of the administration building, steam serves the Tērvete brewery, and 2 MW of electricity is sold to AS “Sadales tīkls”.
Processing the manure in the biogas plant leaves a technological residue called digestate. It is rich in nutrients and can be used as a soil fertiliser, which lets the company use its residues efficiently and reduce the amount of waste.
Land and cooperation
Land use for crops follows the principles of crop rotation and rotational cropping, which make fuller use of the soil's potential fertility, restore it and keep production environmentally sound. The company takes an ecologically responsible approach to food production and uses a range of modern green technologies aimed at reducing its environmental impact.
Another example of industrial symbiosis is the shared use of land by AS “Agrofirma Tērvete” together with SIA “Agrolats” and the farming company “Liepas”. That cooperation began back in 2012 in order to use land and technical resources more rationally. The combined area farmed by all of them is now 5000 ha.