More than 100 farms with milking parlors are planned to be built in the Vitebsk region by the end of 2015

January 11, Vitebsk / Diana Kurilo - BELTA /. More than 100 dairy farms with milking parlors are planned to be commissioned in the Vitebsk region by the end of 2015, the Vitebsk Regional Executive Committee's Agriculture and Food Department informed a BELTA correspondent. To enhance the competitiveness of the livestock industry in the region, it is planned to concentrate the main volumes of production in large-scale farms and complexes. However, currently, more than 60% of livestock facilities housing over 100,000 cows have been in operation for more than 30 years. To increase milk production volumes within the next five years, 102 dairy farms equipped with milking parlors will be commissioned in the region's farms. This will allow decommissioning 255 farms where milking is still done into buckets. The construction of new dairy complexes will enable the transition of the milking herd to year-round stall housing, organized uniform feeding, and a reduction in the number of herds that graze around the clock during the summer period. By the end of 2015, 111 dairy farms are to be reconstructed and technically re-equipped with feed dispensers, milk pipelines, and closed-type milk coolers. Currently, the minimum provision of feed dispensers is about 90%, closed-type refrigerators - less than 50%, and milk pipelines - only 70%. The construction of new farms and the reconstruction of existing ones, as well as efforts to enhance the genetic potential of the milking herd and improve feeding rations, will help achieve a productivity of at least 7 tons of milk per cow. In total, by the end of 2015, it is planned to produce 1,435 thousand tons of milk in the region, which will exceed the 2010 figures by more than 40%. -0-