«We need to complete all our tasks on time and with quality, not just to finish them», says Alina, the manager of the International Anaia Farm in Ilfov.
Alina and Mihai Istrate oversee three vegetable farms covering a total of 1,000 hectares in Ilfov County. They own two farms, one of 560 hectares and another of 150 hectares, producing wheat, rapeseed, peas, sunflowers, and corn.
The past few years have been very dry. In 2020, they harvested just 1.9 tons of wheat per hectare. The year 2021 was an improvement, but 2025 turned out to be a terrible year for spring crops, so this year they only have 88 hectares of corn and have expanded the area for autumn crops. To save ground water, on around 400 hectares planted with wheat and rapeseed, they decided to stop plowing.
Istrate Alina, Farm Administrator at Anabia International: «First, we are working on all autumn crops. This year, I only made a minimal transition with the Horsch tiger machine for the wheat crop and for the rapeseed crop, I did a leveling with Horsch Joker, to smooth the ground, mix in the plant debris, and then I went to sow.
In this year’s conditions, with a lack of water in the autumn, on the fields where we did minimal work, the rapeseed grew more evenly than in the fields prepared traditionally and where I sowed in dry soil.»
For both crops, wheat and rapeseed, a surface soil treatment with Horsch Joker 8 RT was done right after harvesting to close the capillaries and keep water in the soil.
Setting the Rapeseed Crop
The rapeseed sowing was finished on August 30, 2025. The prior crop was wheat. The rainfall from when the crop was planted until the end of March—when the photos were taken—was 190 l/m2, and they used 150 kg/ha of DAP 18-46-0 fertilizer, applied to a depth of 18 cm, with the focus at the turn of Shower 6.35 TD.
Setting the Wheat Crop
The prior crop was sunflower. The rainfall from when the crop was planted until the end of March—when the photos were taken—was also 190 l/m2, and they used 150 kg/ha of DAP 18-46-0 fertilizer, placed close to the seeds, with the focus at the turn of Shower 6.35 TD.
They invested in advanced equipment
The couple started their first agricultural company in 2009 after working in agriculture for about two years. They began collaborating with Fiery ten years ago and have a «complete trust» relationship, says Alina Istrate. Initially, they bought a used combine and tractor from Schroeder Company in Germany. As their farming business grew, they purchased new machinery through leasing, which has supported their growth each year.
Currently, all the technology for preparing soil and planting both crop and forage plants is done only with Horsch machines. In 2016, they bought a 280 HP Fendt 828 tractor, and starting from January 2025, they will also own a 1050 profipplus, 517 HP, which was bought along with the Focus Horsch Sowing 6.35 TD.
There are two main reasons they make profitable investments in large machines for a medium-sized farm: fewer workers and machine efficiency.
«It is not sufficient to invest in high-efficiency machines if you do not have the human element, namely the operator. Our benefit is that my husband loves technology and farm machinery, so he operates these machines. We share our tasks, and because we lack skilled workers, we appreciate the efficiency of large and advanced machines even more, as it is obvious that if you have a big machine to cover the whole area, you need only one operator. We are working with about one thousand hectares, and we need to produce continuously and with good quality,» says Alina, the wife.
With the equipment they own, they are able to manage the full area of 1,000 hectares with just three people. Alina Istrate acknowledges that sometimes it is useful if you need to drive a trailer and also know how to set the tractors’ GPS and calibrate the planters.
What is the biggest challenge right now?
Alina Istrate: «The biggest challenge I see is the prices. In past years, we stored part of our grains, especially wheat, in the warehouse and I sold them in January, as normally the price rises during the winter. This year, the grain I sold from the field was at 1.65 per kilogram, while what I sold from the warehouse was at 1.5 per kilogram because I sold early. Now the prices have dropped even more. What we can do is aim for steady production, to have more stability, which is why we are planting various fall crops and using high performance machines.»