A reserve of fresh and high-quality forage. The coulisse crops of rape and rye are being harvested in the Lida district

April 30, Lida District. Harvesting of the colander crops of rapeseed and rye is being completed at the Ditva branch of OAO Lidakhleboprodukt, BELTA reports.

Aleksey Kutsankov is working in the "striped" field. "I have been working for a long time, 17 years already on this farm. Our time began in February with the preparation of equipment. The work is good, the mood is good, you can work and earn money. Before the mowing, I worked on the cultivator, applied mineral fertilizers. There is enough work," the farmer shared. Speaking about the charm of his work, Aleksey Kutsankov notes: "It is calm here, always in nature, and we are doing important work." By the way, they plan to prepare 1.5 thousand tons of haylage from this unusual 90-hectare field.
Local farmers conducted a similar experiment last year, but then they sowed a little winter rye along with the rapeseed. This year, they approached it more thoroughly - for uniformity of sowing, they sowed rye next to rapeseed, together they will provide a balanced nutritious first green feed for animals. "In general, we constantly sowed rapeseed. This crop is very good in energy, it has good sugars. But at the same time, it is not a very good silage crop if sown in its pure form. That is why we decided to experiment. Rye is a high-protein crop," said Ruslan Rotko, DIRECTOR of the Ditva branch of Lidakhleboprodukt OJSC. And the effect is already obvious - it is the end of April, and local farmers are in the process of harvesting green feed. "After we mow, wither for a day or two, dry to the optimum moisture content, turn over, pile up, put in a trench, in 20 days there will be fresh, high-protein, energy silage for the animals," added the HEAD of the farm.
And there is someone to feed on the farm. "In total, our livestock is 5 thousand. Today, 1990 are a dairy herd. Our indicators are 21.6 liters of MILK. All our efforts are aimed at high milk yields, and this depends on high-protein protein feed. In general, we have a year and a half of feed. There is both haylage and silage. It is more than enough. But we understand that we need to keep up with the times and improve the quality of feed," says the head of the "Ditva" branch. In general, more than 50% of corn has already been sown on the farm, and the sowing of spring crops has been completed. Sunflower seed sowing is underway; by the way, this is a crop that the farm is trying to cultivate for the first time this year. "We will have our own meal, our own oil . We have our own installation that presses the oil. We will get full-fledged feed and the cost will be lower," Ruslan Rotko noted. Also, the Ditva branch plans to begin harvesting the first cut grasses from May 1; the forage harvesting equipment is 100% ready, and people are ready to work.
In general, the farm's area structure includes 1.8 thousand hectares of winter crops (including wheat, rye, triticale, barley), 500 hectares of winter rapeseed,as well as spring crops - 880 hectares (barley, wheat, oats), 1350 hectares of corn. Experts state that winter cropsthis year are not bad, despite the lack of moisture. Photo by Leonid Shcheglov