INTERNATIONAL KATSLÖSA AGRO, RYDSGÅRD (SWEDEN) Producing more than 20,000 big bales and 25,000 small bales per year, Katslösa Agro is one of the largest haylage producers in Sweden. FOR HORSES JUST THE BEST “We produce haylage for around 2,500 horses,” says Morgan Nilsson, the company’s specialist for animal feed production. Morgan Nilsson and Nicklas Flink specialise in the production of haylage for horses. They measure the maturity of the crop to determine the optimum timing for the cut and also provide their customers nutrient with balance sheets on special request. The haylage is preserved and stored as big or small square bales Katslösa Agro is located on the south coast of Sweden and northwest of Ystad. The province of Skåne is one of Sweden's most productive farming regions that is mainly known for grain. The 1,300ha land of Morgan Nilsson and Nicklas Flink stretches from Malmö to the east coast of Sweden. Even though grassland makes up 45% of the Swedish farmland, there is only little forage production in the south where Morgan and Nicklas grow grass on a 550ha area. The rest of their land is reserved for grain. Nicklas also manages another grain farm in Staffanstorp 50km in the northwest whilst Morgan focuses on growing forage grass in Katslösa. The grass grows on fertile arable land and not on permanent grassland as usual. They grow grass during three seasons and then rotate to oilseed rape, wheat and barley. WRAPPING SMALL BALES The agricultural engineers started with only 10ha of land when they founded their company in 2005. Both studied at SLU, the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, in Alnarp, and often worked at a contracting farm as students and after graduation. “Many people tried to bale small HD bales but gave up quickly, because there was too much manual work involved in it,” explains Morgan. “But we have never gave up the idea of baling haylage into small bales.” The plan was to market horse feed of a high quality that met special customer requirements. From the beginning on, the two entrepreneurs invested in high-quality machines and financed them by offering contract 56 57
