Growing up in an agricultural family, one has two basic choices: either to love the rural way of life and choose to continue the tradition, or to seek a completely different path. Michalis Kyriakidis consciously decided to follow in his father's footsteps in livestock farming, turning a piece of his family’s past into an opportunity and commitment for his future.

As part of the creation of the 26th Business Story, we visited his livestock farm and spoke with him about the past, present, and future of his business, his award as “Livestock Farmer of the Year” at the recent “Farmer of the Year 2023” awards, as well as his collaboration with ena Development Consultants.

What is the object of your business?

My business is a livestock farm specializing in the breeding of dairy sheep and the production of sheep’s milk. Currently, our farm hosts 1,000 animals, and I am mainly responsible for managing the entire flock, daily operations, and their nutrition.

Can you tell us a bit about how your business started and what led you to get involved in the demanding field of livestock farming?

There was already a family business in place, originally started by my father, who began with beef cattle and later added a few sheep. After I earned my degree in Agricultural Technology with a specialization in animal production in 2015, I decided to become more actively involved in the business. I started by increasing the number of animals (we now work exclusively with sheep) and at the same time, I modernized the farm to make our daily routines easier and more efficient.

What does a typical workday look like for you? 

A typical workday includes many hours of labor, without a fixed schedule. That’s exactly why I focused from the beginning on modernizing the farm and optimizing every process to save time. My usual working hours are from 5 a.m. to 9 p.m., with just a short break in between — 365 days a year. Most of my time is spent on the milk production process (milking). At the moment, we’re at the beginning of the animals’ lactation period, so milking takes place three times a day (morning, noon, and evening). After two to three months, this will be reduced to twice a day (morning and evening). In any case, the entire process takes about 4–5 hours a day.

What were the initial challenges you faced after graduating?

Of course, there were difficulties. One of them is the demanding working hours I mentioned earlier.

However, I would personally like to focus on other types of challenges. The first major challenge was the effort to modernize my farm as much as possible. This was my primary goal when I started, and today, with the help of technology, we have achieved significant progress. For example, the milking process now takes half the time compared to before.

Another challenge was improving the performance of the animals, a process that is constantly evolving. Since installing the state-of-the-art milking system, I can measure the milk yield of each animal daily with accuracy and keep all related data. This way, I hope to gradually identify the most productive offspring from the high-performing mothers and genetically improve the rest of the herd.

Now, I collect the complete history of my animals (illnesses, births of productive animals, milk production, vaccinations) and have comprehensive information on each one individually. This is done by assigning each animal a unique ID in a special application and recording everything related to it there. At the same time, the reports generated help me often to prevent diseases in the animals.

Compared to what you saw in the family business before going to school, and what you learned there, have there been steps forward in education toward the development of a livestock business?

Yes, but mostly in the nutrition part. When I started, I initially thought that since my father managed the unit very differently, I wouldn’t radically change the process as I learned it in the books because it didn’t seem to relate at all to the practices used so far. So, I created an experimental group of 50 animals, which I managed in the way I learned at university to see the difference compared to the other animals.

This helped me to continue researching and seeking higher quality diets and feeds, which are also more economical. So, the university helped me improve the nutrition of the animals, which in reality is the foundation of animal production.

In relation to the traditional management by your father, what would you say the new generation has brought to the business? 

Briefly, I would say that through my actions so far, I have achieved:

How easy was the transition from your father's old management style to the new one? 

My father was very supportive. He gave me the opportunity, through the trial groups of animals I created and managed in my own way, to prove that the change I proposed was beneficial for production. That’s how we moved forward to the next phase of our business.

Where can one find all this new technology and innovations that the new generation introduces in the livestock sector? 

I search for all the information and new trends on the internet, mainly on websites from abroad. The leading countries in sheep farming right now are France, Spain, and Germany. However, I believe Greece is not lacking in anything; we can make significant progress and evolve as well. I think we can bring sheep farming out of the bad state it is in, something that has already happened in our country with dairy farming, which today is at a very good stage.

As we understand, research and innovation interest you as a person. Do you participate in or would you consider joining any research program? 

I already have a collaboration with Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, within the framework of a doctoral thesis. The work concerns artificial insemination for the Lacaune sheep breed that I have in my unit. As part of the research, they will supply my unit with higher quality semen, which will result in acquiring more productive animals in a shorter time. The goal is to achieve 500 kilos of milk per animal within two years.

What advice would you give to other young people like you who are thinking of entering this field?

Mainly, to love what they do. And, of course, to love the animals as well. Also, they should try to ensure from the start that their business has all the modern tools to make their daily work less laborious and more efficient.

Of course, for something like this, the appropriate capital is needed, and there are many programs where young people can participate with subsidies of up to 70%.

Many young people I talk to look to start a new activity and end up opening cafés, believing it guarantees profit. In reality, though, if you have enough capital to start something small, you could invest it in the livestock sector. Starting with 100-200 productive animals and modern machinery, you can make a profit and gradually, why not, develop your business further.

You were recently awarded “Livestock Farmer of the Year 2023.” What do you think led to receiving this award? 

I believe my young age played a big role, as nowadays it’s rare for young people to choose this line of work.

But more than that, I think it’s the philosophy I follow and the strategy I apply. I reinvest all my profits by choice, so that my business is constantly growing. I want to lay the right foundations so that, in the future, what I do will bring in greater returns.

What did this award mean to you and how did you feel?

It was definitely a recognition of all my hard work and an extra motivation to become even more actively involved in my field.

How do financial support tools help people like you, and what was your experience working with ena Development Consultants?

As I mentioned before, funding tools are very important. They help young people – and not only them – to start and upgrade their agricultural businesses. That’s how I started too, receiving support as a young farmer, with the help of the team at ena Development Consultants.

My collaboration with the ena team was excellent. I received accurate and timely information about everything new. We never encountered any issues; everything was done quickly and efficiently. Every program we apply for, we do it in collaboration with ena.

Are there any future plans for the business?

Yes, of course. We are already preparing for the next step. We’ve set up a small family-run processing facility and are waiting for certification, so we can use our own production to process our milk into yogurt and cheese, which we will market under our own brand. The facilities are already ready, and both production and packaging will take place there.

Another goal is that, once my flock reaches the characteristics and performance levels I’m aiming for, I want to be able to supply other producers with improved breeding animals for their DNA, using artificial weaning. In this way, and with cooperation among livestock farmers from all over Greece, we can hopefully reach a point where we have many productive animals domestically and no longer need to keep importing from abroad.

Finally, I plan for my business to become energy self-sufficient by installing solar panels on the roof.

Michalis Kyriakidis has maintained a steady collaboration with our company’s Integrated Administration and Control System (IACS/OSDE) Department since 2016, under the leadership of Maria Karatzoglou, for the submission of his annual declaration. He has also benefited from the “Young Farmers Installation” measure of the 2014–2020 Rural Development Program, with the support of the Primary Sector Department of ena Development Consultants, headed by Lambros Exioglou.

Finally, in excellent cooperation with the company’s Investment Law & Business Development Department, he is currently implementing an investment plan under the Investment Law framework. The plan concerns the modernization and expansion of his existing sheep and goat farming unit. With the support received, he has acquired a state-of-the-art 32-stall milking parlor equipped with an electronic milk metering system, a telescopic handler, and a silage distributor.

We would like to sincerely thank Michalis for his warm hospitality and the inspiring conversation we had. It is always a great pleasure and source of inspiration to meet people who, by putting their full energy into what they love, achieve small “miracles” every day.

Read the story of Angeliki Ganidou – an award-winning producer in “Women’s Entrepreneurship in Agricultural Production.”