The village of Variko is located at an altitude of 750 metres at the foot of Mount Vernos in the southern part of Florina. The area is covered by greenery. The forests alternate with meadows and large fields where beans are grown, the most famous product of the region, but not the only fine one. We don’t know how a cow thinks, but we suppose it’s hard to find a more beautiful place to raise a cow. Walking through the forest in spring, one might come across Simeon Beltsos and his cattle, which are grazing freely at that time of the year.
Simeon Beltsos, now 50 years old, has lived on these lands all his life and has been working on the family farm for most of it. Since 1985, at first helping his father, he is now (occasionally) assisted by his son. He rears 50 cows, 30 of which are of milk-producing age. The 7 to 8 tonnes of milk they produce per month are delivered to DELTA FOODS SA (one of the largest Greek companies in the production and distribution of dairy products). This is a long-standing collaboration that Mr Beltsos remembers as long as he remembers himself doing this job. “There is no complaint; we have never had a delay in payments, not a penny. And we know how important that is when milk is the only source of income.”
Mr Beltsos’ farm is one of the small Macedonian farms where the new “DELTA of our Land” fresh milk is produced. The rich pristine nature around the farm reflects the balance between man, cows and the natural environment; it reflects viability and sustainable development. Mr Beltsos’ homeland is quite different from how it once was – not too many years ago. Most of the inhabitants are farmers, as they have always been, and are engaged in the cultivation of beans. But about two decades ago there were about 700 cows in the village. Today Simeon Beltsos is the only cow farmer left. “I can’t imagine doing anything else in my life. I grew up with animals; I visit them even if there is no practical reason to do so.” Not that this happens often. For small producers in the Greek countryside, animal husbandry means above all a daily presence in the barn.
“A happy cow is a full cow”
The production of milk “Delta of our land” requires work, hard personal work. The herd is essentially a farmer’s second family; they need to take care of it 24/7. Mr Beltsos’ cows are fed exclusively with clover, corn and wheat from the region. “Nutrition is the most important thing for a cow. A happy cow is a full cow”. And indeed, for as long as we were at the Variko farm the cows did not stop eating. “There is also a particular problem that has driven people away from the profession and that is the high cost of fodder. To make a good income you have to grow your own cattle feed”. Thus, Mr Beltsos is not only a livestock farmer, he is also a producer of corn, maize and barley; he is essentially a producer of animal feed, too. And also “guardian” of the herd during the free grazing of the spring weeds, as several bears live in the mountains of Florina.
Before the milk is delivered to DELTA, he and his relatives will first taste it, and he will also give some to his neighbours. They are the people who can tell you better than anyone else how delicious and healthy our local milk is before it becomes the “DELTA of our land”. His daughter is a nursing student, his son who helps him occasionally works in a company. So the only cow farmer in the area expects to be the last. Unless young people are given an incentive to get back into dairy farming. “The collaboration with DELTA is excellent, they are there for us, and we can turn to them for anything that has to do with the care and health of the animal”.
No matter how difficult and strenuous his job is, Simeon Beltsos will continue to do what he has been doing since he was a teenager. And his cows will continue to live happy and full at the foot of Mount Vernos.
