Polotsk integration structure: on agricultural production, renewal of the machine and tractor fleet, construction of livestock farms

Photo from open sources.

The integration structure of Polotsk KHP unites 36 farms from its own and Miory, Ushachi, Rossony, Sharkovshchina districts. It includes not only leading farms, but also farms with large debts: "Polota", "Zakharnichi" of Polotsk district, "Glubochany", "Selishche" of Ushachi district, and others.
 
The material and technical base of many has been significantly strengthened over the years. 3 dairy farms have been built, premises for loose housing of young cattle for 1500 heads have been reconstructed, and 19 trenches for 38 thousand tons of feed have been put into operation. A total of 22 million rubles have been invested in the construction of livestock facilities. 

The machine and tractor fleet has been capital updated. 268 units of equipment have been purchased, including 45 high-power tractors, 11 grain harvesters and 13 forage harvesters, 15 balers, 28 seeders, 63 soil-cultivating units.

All this could not but affect the production of agricultural products, which has increased by 42 percent over the last three years. Cattle population has increased by 23 percent, pigs by 159 percent. Milk production has increased by 36 percent.

In 2019, 112 thousand tons of grain were threshed, which is 26 thousand tons more than last year's harvest.

However, the general director of the agroholding, Vasily Khamenok, believes that these results should be and will be higher:

— 70 million rubles have been invested in the development of the material and technical base of the divisions. These funds can be recouped only if this powerful base operates, maximally supplies raw materials to processing enterprises — our own grain processing plant, Miory meat-packing plant, and Polotsk dairy plant, and enters markets with a competitive final product. Therefore, everyone, from the machine operator, milking machine operator to the manager, needs to seriously improve technologies, discipline, and labor productivity.

And these are not just words. Here are some measures that are already being implemented. At the grain processing plant, Miory meat-packing plant, and Polotsk dairy plant, 5 teams have been created for livestock treatment, which visit farms and assist local veterinarians. Four repair teams in agricultural enterprises service milking parlors, milking equipment, and are involved in adjusting water supply and manure removal systems. In addition, gearboxes for MTZ tractors are being overhauled in workshops, and other equipment is being repaired.

Special attention is paid to personnel. Over 40 machine operators have been retrained at the grain processing plant., at the dairy plant — 18, at the meat processing plant — 12. This made it possible to create 4 brigades for applying organic fertilizers.

In addition, 8 inter-farm teams are currently engaged in the same work at various locations: in the "Goryany-Agro" branch, agricultural enterprises "Mayak-Ushchsky", "Titovo", "Cheresy", "Bliznitsa" and others. Moreover, "Goryany-Agro" helps, for example, "Polote", "Mayak-Ushchsky" helps "Selishcham", "Titovo" helps "Yazno"... The brigades and mechanical teams cover practically all agricultural enterprises of the holding. Thus, energy-saturated equipment is used rationally and does not stand idle

specialized equipment of the agroholding. And most importantly, the fields receive a full supply of organic matter, which is ecologically better and much cheaper than mineral fertilizers.

Yes, everything starts with the land. And the agroholding is thinking not only about a significant increase in crop yields but also about changing the very structure of sown areas. To avoid buying expensive protein for foreign currency, the sowing of peas, lupine, rapeseed, and vetch has been increased by 15 percent.

The agroholding actively helps all its divisions and agricultural enterprises to get on their feet.

>— Polotsk Khleboprodukt helped us get on our feet, — unequivocally states Franz Vershalovsky, director of OJSC "Titovo" in the Miory district. — With its help, we acquired 2 energy-intensive tractors, a grain harvester, a seeding unit, plows, and other equipment. This allowed us to get 33.6 centners of grain per round this year and harvest 1500 tons more grain than last year. Khleboprodukt also provides us with mixed feeds. We owe 7 million rubles for them, so we gave 2 thousand tons of grain to pay off the debt, and the rest will be enough for mixed feeds for cattle. We expect to get 6539 kilograms of milk per cow, almost 500 kilograms more than last year. We are liquidating a small and low-profit pig farm and will focus on raising Hereford beef cattle. We hope Polotsk Khleboprodukt will help us with the reconstruction and equipping of the new farm.

An example of cooperation with the parent enterprise of the agroholding is its agricultural branch "Goryany-Agro" in the Polotsk district. The farm has been provided with over 20 units of high-performance equipment, thanks to which the machine and tractor fleet has been almost completely updated. This greatly helps to replenish the feed balance of the livestock complex, which houses 5500 bulls. By the way, they are used for mutual offset of debts. For example, the enterprise supplies 100 heads to itself and another 100 heads to Khleboprodukt. The branch has its own account.

The director of the branch, Alexander Koltunov, who has managed the farm for over 20 years, came up with shelters for young cattle made from pressed straw bales, where 1000 heifers are kept, which has significantly reduced their maintenance costs. 45.3 centners of grain were obtained per hectare, and the total yield was 5884 tons, which is 704 tons more than last year. The farm took first place in the district for meat and rapeseed production, and second place for feed.

Another vivid example is the work of the team at the new dairy farm "Klyastitsy" in the Rossony district. Khleboprodukt invested 10 million rubles in it. The first phase has been completed. They are now milking twice as much milk as last year. Good salaries have also brought people back home from the cities.

The agroholding "Polotsk Khleboprodukt" has 40 stores for selling finished products made from grain, meat, and milk. Profits are divided equally between the farms and industrial enterprises. Revenuewill be higher, and therefore the salary too, if the cost of production decreases. This is what they are working on now.