"We couldn't even dream of this." How many new MTCs have been opened in the Grodno region and how many more will be built

January 4, Svisloch district. 12 dairy farms (DF) were put into operation in the Grodno region by the end of 2023, another five such facilities will be put into operation in the first quarter of 2024 , and it is planned to begin construction of another 15 livestock facilities this year. This was reported to a BelTA correspondent by Igor Sorokin, First Deputy Chairman of the Committee on Agriculture and Food of the Grodno Regional Executive Committee. "In dairy farming in the Grodno Region, the main emphasis is placed on the creation of large dairy farms equipped with modern computer-controlled milking equipment. Today, 82% of the dairy cow population is kept in modern complexes in the region. And if only eight MTCs were put into operation in 2021-2022, then in 2023, 12 dairy complexes were put into operation in nine districts (two MTCs in Berestovitsky, Voronovsky, Grodno, Dyatlovsky, Korelichi, Novogrudok, Ostrovets, Svisloch, and one in the Smorgon District)," Igor Sorokin said.

He added that five more such facilities will be commissioned in the first quarter of 2024 (two in the Dyatlovsky district, and one each in the Novogrudok, Oshmyany and Slonim districts). In general, according to Igor Sorokin, in 2024 it is planned to begin construction of another 15 livestock facilities. One of the new MTCs, which appeared in the Svisloch district, was a facility in the USP "Novy Dvor-Agro". "This complex was commissioned in early December. At this stage, it contains 280 heads, including 245 dairy herd. In January, we plan to add another 420 heads of dairy herd, we will gradually staff it," said the HEAD of the farm Denis Turok.

The construction of the facility required Br14 million, the construction took about a year. The MTC was erected next to an old farm, the buildings of which will be reconstructed for keeping dry cows, breeding heifers and a HEALTH center.

"Taking into account the construction of this facility, we plan to close one of our tethered farms for 420 heads of dairy cattle in January and move the animals here. And we will have two complexes for 777 heads of dairy cattle and one tethered farm where we keep red Belarusian cattle on a tether (there are also 420 heads there), the building is good," added the DIRECTOR of the USP "Novy Dvor-Agro". There are currently 18 people working at the facility. Almost all the workers moved here from a neighboring farm. "This is heaven and earth, of course, compared to the company where we worked before. The conditions are very good for the cows and for the workers. We really like it. The new building is completely automatic. Even the cows began to give more MILK," shares milkmaid Oksana Nesterenko.

A colleague with over 30 years of experience, Svetlana Sobko, adds: "I have worked for many years and simply dreamed of working at such a complex. We are lucky, of course. Everything has been done for people, the conditions really cannot be compared to what they were before. And we will try to do everything in our power." Initially, they plan to get 20 liters of milk per cow here, and then only increase it.

As the first deputy chairman of the committee on agriculture and food, Igor Sorokin, added, in accordance with the "Agricultural Business" program, in 2025, the milk yield per cow in the Grodno region should have been 7 thousand kg of milk, but this figure was achieved based on the results of 2023. Thus, the improvement of the forage base, the modernization of farms, and selection work made it possible to get 7 thousand 94 kg of milk per cow based on the results of last year. "Over the period from 2021 to 2023, the region added 945 kg of milk per cow, while over the five previous years the increase was 910 kg," said the first deputy chairman of the committee on agriculture and food. - In addition, this year the number of dairy cows increased by 1.4 thousand heads, which, taking into account the growth in the productivity of the dairy herd, made it possible to produce more than 1.5 million tons of milk at a rate of 108.8% compared to the 2022 level. "The best Grodno district in the country by the end of the year came close to the milestone of 10 thousand kg of milk yield per cow. In 2023, the Berestovitsky district overcame the 9-thousand mark of productivity of the dairy herd. More than 8 thousand kg of milk per cow were received in the Shchuchin district," said Igor Sorokin, adding that the construction of another 15 livestock facilities has begun this year. (along with other measures) will increase the average productivity of cows in the region to 7.5 thousand kg of milk.
Photo by Leonid Shcheglov