Miory Regional Executive Committee

The Beshenkovichy, Vitebsk, Dubrovna, Orsha, Sharkoushchyna, and Shumilina districts have already begun harvesting the first cutting of grasses in the region. The remaining districts are preparing for large-scale fodder preparation, which will begin in the northern region on June 1. The first cutting will cover 197 thousand hectares of grass, requiring the preparation of 381 thousand tonnes of feed units of grass fodder, or at least 10 centners of feed units per standard head of livestock.

— What will be harvested in the first cutting constitutes one-third of the required amount. The task is to prepare 30 centners of feed units per standard head, taking into account a year-and-a-half feed reserve. This will include the second cutting, annual crops, and corn. The minimum we must store to ensure a good yield after wintering is 25 centners per cow, — reported Yuri Romanov, Deputy Head of the Crop Production, Plant Growing and Fodder Production Department of the Committee for Agriculture and Food of the Vitebsk Regional Executive Committee.

Currently, dry weather prevails in the north of the country, while spring crops and grasses require moisture for growth. Meteorologists forecast warm nights, and farmers are hoping for rain so that the green mass would grow uniformly. Meanwhile, those who have started the mowing season are testing equipment and harvesting 10–20 hectares exclusively for supplementary feeding.

In the structure of perennial grasses on arable land, legumes and legume-grass mixtures account for 81 percent. Pure stands of meadow clover occupy 42 thousand hectares, and alfalfa occupies 4.7 thousand hectares. Grass undersowing also primarily uses legume and legume-grass mixtures.

— Science dictates that the first cutting of grasses should be completed within 14–18 days, but practice shows that it takes longer. Sometimes it rains, sometimes something breaks down, or there are fuel shortages, — noted Yuri Romanov.

For now, farmers remain optimistic about the mowing season: equipment has been prepared better than last year. Approximately 150 teams are involved in this process daily.

Farms in the region have 462 forage harvesters, 883 tractor-mounted mowers, 520 tractor rakes, 508 hay and straw balers, and 75 combined balers with stretch-film wrapping.

— Mostly techOur equipment is domestic, but all combined balers are of foreign production. For known reasons, prices for spare parts have risen sharply, and there are issues with delivery timelines. Contracts have been signed, everything has been paid for, we are waiting. This is what spoils the overall picture, — emphasized Nikolai Korotkevich, Deputy Chairman of the Committee on Agriculture and Food of the Vitebsk Regional Executive Committee.

Some farms purchase spare parts with their own or credit funds, while others acquire them using subsidies from district or regional budgets. A similar situation applies to fuel. Everything boils down to funding.

Approximately 5,000 people are required for uninterrupted field operations across the region. By order of the Regional Executive Committee, an additional 350 machine operators, including those with vehicles and tractors for transporting and compacting silage mass, will be recruited from external organizations to assist agricultural workers.

— We hope that nothing will prevent us from preparing fodder harvesting equipment for the start of the mass mowing season and commencing field work, — said Nikolai Korotkevich.