Over two years, JSC "Postavy Dairy Plant" has invested 11.3 million rubles in the development of its raw material zone
Postavy Agro-Industrial Association Leads Among Peers in Vitebsk Region
“If there is no return from the land – from farms, machine yards, grain receiving points, if there is no organization and return there, no holdings will save,” emphasized the Head of State in November 2019 at a meeting on the development of the agro-industrial complex of the Vitebsk region.
Just a few months later, Decree No. 70 was adopted, which served as the starting point for the development of seven agro-industrial associations (APOs) in the northern region. Some of them existed before and were called integration structures. It was not easy to set the flywheel of large-scale transformations in motion, but the task is achievable. According to the President, the creation of agro-industrial associations is the right strategy.
“Therefore, integration structures in the Vitebsk region will exist. And there is no need to say today that this is wrong, that this was not the path to take. What path then? What other path is there for profit concentration?” the Head of State asked in August this year at another meeting on the work of APOs, which took place
in the Postavy district.The uniqueness of the agro-industrial association created there lies in the fact that it is small in terms of the number of agricultural enterprises included in it, and its borders do not extend beyond the district. But most importantly, in all key indicators, it is ahead of last year's level and leads among its peers in the region.
Decree of the President No.70 "On the Development of the Vitebsk Region's Agro-Industrial Complex" made it possible to restructure the debts of villagers, guarantee deferrals, and installment payments. The creation of the AIC did not provide any special financial bonuses to the plant, as they had no debts. But for agricultural enterprises, it became a salvation: if the transformations had not happened, three out of five would most likely have already gone down in history, as they were insolvent by the time of the merger.
They helped solve financial problems, in other words, allowed the farms to start from scratch. During the period of the decree, there were no longer any issues with the current payment for electricity, contributions to the Social Protection Fund, salary payments, tax payments, and so on. Today, the APO includes seven farms.
60 units of modern domestic agricultural machinery were purchased. Some of it was leased to farms, and a powerful mechanized unit was created at the plant. A centralized procurement department was also organized. From now on, villagers do not need to look for anything themselves. The parent enterprise purchases for everyone at once and resells to farms at 1 percent of the profit received, for example, plant protection products, stretch film for silage, seed material, and veterinary drugs.
According to Konstantin Gailevsky, Director of JSC "Postavy Dairy Plant", in agricultural enterprises, the yield of winter triticale and wheat this year exceeded 30 centners per hectare on average. For spring crops, the figure is slightly lower, but on average, 27 centners were obtained per round. Previously, they barely reached 20. One of the reasons for the growth is the timely application of the necessary amount of fertilizers and the improvement of seed reproduction. Another striking example can be given: in the autumn, more phosphate fertilizers were purchased, thanks to which, for the 2023 harvest, the sown areas of winter barley were increased to 850 hectares, i.e., eight times.
In general, APO farmers threshed 30,000 tons of grain this year – 150 percent compared to the 2021 level. The best indicator in three years. Rapeseed yield was a thousand tons less, as 60 percent of winter crops died after spring frosts. However, last year a record harvest was collected.
Konstantin Gailevsky notes that since the spring of 2020, the dairy plant has invested 11.3 million rubles in the development of the raw material zone, including 6.3 million last year, and 1.86 million in the nine months of this year. The reduction in expenses indicates that the farms have become financially stronger, and the investments are paying off. For agricultural enterprises that were on the verge of closure, up to 120percentage growth rate, for example, for milk. Cattle weight gain, milk commercial yield, crop yields, and the volume of harvested grass feed have increased.
All this is good, but the main question is: has the amount of raw materials at the plant increased? The increase is evident, although the changes are not so significant. The raw material zone provides about 56 percent of the required daily milk volume on average. In the summer, this figure was higher. The deficit, which is almost 100 tons per day, is purchased from outside the district. At the same time, for the year as a whole, production capacities are loaded at 100 percent.
During the period of the APO, the total cattle population has increased by more than 2000 heads, including 288 heads added in 2022. OJSC "Yanovicha-Agro" has built a frame-and-tent structure for housing 200 young animals. A dairy farm for 160 heads with non-tied housing has been reconstructed. And the plant spent only 23 thousand rubles on this.
The long-delayed construction stood idle for ten years, although completing the work turned out to be not so difficult. The livestock in the agricultural enterprise has been increased by a total of 600 heads. Accordingly, milk production has also grown.
The plant also helps other farms to build prophylactic facilities and reconstruct farms. In "Kamaysky-Agro," the construction of a dairy complex near the village of Butsevichi for 1200 heads with a milking parlor, which began a year and a half ago, is nearing completion. More precisely, an unfinished pig complex breeder was repurposed. A total of about 10 million rubles were spent, of which 4 million were the plant's funds.
The work is carried out by own efforts, and enterprises and organizations of the district also provide assistance. According to Konstantin Gailevsky, the assistance and support of the district authorities, the coordination of actions, and the interest in theto achieve the highest result.
In addition, the plant is building its own farm for 440 cows near the village of Yunki. It plans to convert the unfinished construction into a future complex with a milking parlor, where high-yield cows will be kept.
The Postavy Dairy Plant produces products that are in demand outside the country; exports are 145 percent compared to last year. Therefore, the requirements for the quality of raw materials are high.
— The market situation this year has been favorable. We produce a range of whole milk products in demand on the domestic market, their volume in the production structure is 16 percent, dozens of types of cheese, 90 percent of which we supply to Russia, — says Svetlana Germanovich, the chief technologist of the enterprise.
Another issue that Alexander Lukashenko paid attention to during his visit to the Postavy district is branded trade. Ateight stores in the city, and another one was opened in an agro-town. They bring significant profit. For their employees, there are minimal markups, which is also a considerable advantage.
— In Pskov, the products are in high demand. We plan to organize mobile trade on weekends, and in the future, we are considering the possibility of opening a trading house. This month we deliveredto Russia 630 tons of cheese, if more were produced, it would all be sold. For butter, we cannot keep up with incoming orders, — emphasizes Konstantin Gailevsky.
The result of successful solutions is the steady growth of gross agricultural output. For the first nine months of this year, it was 107.3 percent compared to the 2021 level, the growth rate of industrial production output is 142 percent. The profitability of finished product manufacturing is 26 percent, thus, the plant received about 12.8 million in net profit.
