Study trip: Eastern Slovakia

In June 2026 I spent five days in Eastern Slovakia, accompanied by two Slovak colleagues, on five farms. The farms differed in almost everything – machinery, finances, ownership, expertise and attitude – but three things were true of all of them: they grew out of former collective farms, they keep livestock alongside crop production, and they are open to the regenerative transition. That is why I was there. I don’t name the partners or the client.

Market pressure, not subsidies

The machinery and equipment of the former collective farms were more advanced than what I usually see in Hungary. According to a local agronomist, the reason is simple: whoever doesn’t invest falls out of the competition. Good mechanisation is not a goal but a consequence of market competition – where a farm’s main income comes from the market, it optimises for production.

Time travel in the soil

The soils and crops of the eastern region reminded me of Hungary before 2020: bright green maize even without irrigation, a lot of soybean, and farms that build vegetables and herbs into 6–8-crop rotations – while in many places in Hungary only the sunflower–cereal pair is left.

Slovak farms still have a head start: they can produce enough biomass to substantially raise soil organic matter within a few years, before drought hits them too. In many places in Hungary a vicious circle has already set in: without organic matter there is no good soil structure, but on degraded soil even cover crops struggle to emerge, or the next drought wipes them out.

What can be brought home

• Start the regenerative transition while the soil can still carry a cover crop.
• Diverse rotations – with vegetables and herbs – work in a market environment too.
• Investment is driven by the market, not by grants – the farm has to be optimised for production.

Thinking about a regenerative transition? Read more about my consulting here if you’re interested. The full report – on the market, crop rotations and everyday life on both sides of the border – was published in Parasztvakítás for subscribers (in Hungarian): Agrárkalandozások Kelet-Szlovákiában.