From five cows to a modern farm: The story of Mr. Ivanov from the village of Dobrinovo

We started in 2007 with five cows and a few ruined buildings, without owning the land underneath. This is the story of livestock farmer Mr. Ivanov from the village of Dobrinovo, Karnobat municipality, told to Agri.BG. Today, almost two decades later, the farm of the two partners, Mr. Ivanov and Krasimir Koychev, is modern and counts 500 dairy cows, along with nearly 10,000 decares of land and pastures. However, the path to this point was not easy. "Step by step, we increased the animals, but we realized that without European programs, we couldn't develop," recalls the farmer. His first project was implemented with "Agritop" – a partner whom Ivanov continues to trust today. "At that time, we built a milking parlor, bought a Weidemann loader, a feed trailer, and quite a few other things," he says. A decisive moment came in 2010 when the subsidy under the Nitrate Directive was increased from 70% to 85%. "That was the thing that gave us a start – we built a manure storage, scrapers, ...