The fodder harvesting campaign has started in the Vitebsk region

Following the success of ASB-Agro Novator CJSC last year in the experiment on growing mixed grasses, other enterprises in the Beshenkovichi district are gradually joining in. This was reported to a BELTA correspondent by Alexey Bukhalovich, First Deputy Chairman - Head of the Agriculture and Food Department of the Beshenkovichi District Executive Committee.

The district began mowing grasses only a couple of days ago, and this year the fodder harvesting campaign started two weeks earlier than last year. At ASB-Agro Novator CJSC, which was among the first to bring machinery to the fields, about 200 hectares are allocated for intercropping. Cereal crops and rapeseed were sown here in alternating strips.

"This technology is being used by the farm for the second year; they conducted an experiment here that yielded good results. In 2023, such a mixture was used as green fodder, and this year it will be laid down in silage pits for the first time to feed cattle in July, during the transitional period – last year's grain harvest will be finished, and cattle will need to be provided with protein feed until the new harvest. The rye and rapeseed mixture, as the experiment showed, can increase milk yield by 14-16%. Last year, ASB-Agro Novator sowed such crops on 60 hectares, and this year it has tripled. A significant advantage of this method is that after harvesting the fodder, corn will be sown on the same areas, thus allowing for two harvests from one plot to replenish the enterprise's fodder base. UP "PolitotdelAgro" joined a similar experiment this year, as well as other agricultural enterprises on small plots as a trial," said Alexey Bukhalovich.

He added that 700 hectares have been sown with alfalfa in the district to replenish the fodder base, which also provides a good protein supplement for cattle. In the coming days, agricultural enterprises will massively begin the first mowing of grasses, which occupy 6.2 thousand hectares.

 

Alexander Barаnok, Director of ASB-Agro Innovator CJSC, emphasized that the enterprise fully provides its existing cattle herd with feed. The total grain acreage here is about 2 thousand hectares, and the harvest depends on weather conditions. In 2022, for example, they harvested approximately 5 thousand tons, and in 2023, from the same area, only about 2 thousand tons due to a prolonged spring and drought in the first summer month. In May, as the head of the enterprise noted, precipitation occurred three times, and farmers hope that the weather will be favorable and warm in the near future, so that the grasses are nourished and the grain grows.

The head of the district agricultural department noted that only Belarusian machinery is used in the district for fodder harvesting, from mowers to tractors. There are enough machine operators, and during the busy season, enterprises from Beshenkovichi region provide assistance by supplying drivers, who are most often involved in transporting fodder and grain. In general, according to Alexey Bukhalovich, farmers manage to fully provide themselves with feed and do not purchase it additionally from other regions, which significantly saves funds, for example, on the purchase of grain.

Source: vitebsk-region.gov.by