The first mowing of grasses is coming to an end in the Vitebsk region.

14/07/20200 views

The first mowing requires harvesting 240 thousand hectares of grass. As of July 10, over 215 thousand hectares have been mown, which is 90 percent of the plan. The Verkhnedvinsk, Vitebsk, Postavy, Rossono, Tolochin, Ushachi, Chashniki, and Sharkovshchina districts have already completed the mowing. The remaining regions will soon catch up with the leaders. What prevented them from completing the green harvest on time? The realities of life – rainy weather and periodic equipment breakdowns due to wear and tear.

Director of OAO "Yelnya-Agro" of the Sharkovshchina district, Mikhail YAKIMOVICH, with machine operators Viktor MATSKEVICH and Vasily KRASOVSKY.

At the same time, there are no problems with fuel and machine operator personnel this year, as stated by Yuri Romanov, Deputy Head of the Department of Land Management, Crop Production, and Fodder Production of the Vitebsk Regional Agricultural Production Department:

— 36 inter-farm mechanized fodder harvesting teams have been created, and the transfer of equipment to lagging farms has been organized. There are also successes. To date, the region leads the country in fodder harvesting: 11.15 centners of fodder units per conventional head of cattle. A few more fine days, and the first mowing will be completed. People and equipment are giving their all – the wait is almost over.

The mowing at OAO "Yelnya-Agro" of the Sharkovshchina district was very successful. From the first mowing, they planned to store slightly more than 14 centners of fodder units per cow, but in reality, they obtained 21.7 centners. Impressive!

Mikhail Yakimovich, the experienced director of the agricultural enterprise, shares the figures:

— We intended to harvest 5200 tons of silage, and today we already have 8800 tons in our reserves. And this is not the limit – we will add about two thousand more.

In this smallest, but strong and promising farm, the focus is on legume-grass mixtures and pure clover. They correctly believe that a protein-rich diet for cattle is always beneficial.

The components of success have long been known: if you work with full commitment, the result will not be long in coming. At "Yelna-Agro", the machinery has not stood idle for a single day due to breakdowns or lack of fuel. But the main driving force of any process, insists the director, is people:

— The employees are doing an excellent job, they understand the task from the first word. And now, for all of us, it is one task – to start the grain harvest, so to speak, without any burdens.

Together with Mikhail Yakimovich, we are going to the Bely Dvor tract, where a young machine operator, Evgeny Orekh, is working. He has been with "Yelna-Agro" for three years, having moved here from the neighboring Gluboksky district, and he does not regret it at all:

— The management is competent and understanding; if you work properly, they will always support you with both words and money. The salary is decent, the team is friendly, what else do you need for work to be a joy.

The machine operator is engaged in hauling green mass. In total, he has already transported about 2560 tons. Whether he will switch to a combine harvester this harvest season is an open question:

— I used to dream about it, but now there are enough chores on other machinery.

Although Evgeny Orekh is a tough nut to crack, if he wants to, a combine harvester is quite within his capabilities.

Machine operators Vasily Krasovsky and Viktor Matskevich, who has forty years of farming experience behind him, are consistently among the leaders:

— Every field is in the palm of my hand, I know every terrain by heart. I don't work alone at "Yelna-Agro", but together with my younger brother Alexander. It's great that our director is also from these parts, a hereditary ploughman who has managed to work both in the workshops and in the combine cabin. His two brothers also work on our farm.

By the way, the total agricultural work experience of the Yakimovich family is 140 years. The dynasty was started by Mikhail Nikolaevich's grandfather, and was worthily continued by his father Nikolai Yakimovich and his sons.