The feed harvesting campaign has started in the Vitebsk region

Following the success of ASB-Agro Novator CJSC in growing mixed grasses last year, other enterprises in the Beshenkovichi district are gradually joining the experiment. 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's fodder harvesting campaign started two weeks earlier than last year's. 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 that yielded good results. In 2023, this mixture was used as green fodder, and this year it will be laid in silage pits for the first time to feed cattle in July, during the transitional period – when last year's grain harvest will be depleted, and livestock will need to be provided with protein-rich feed until the new harvest. The rye and rapeseed mixture, as the experiment showed, can increase milk yield

Director of CJSC "ASB-Agro Innovator" Alexander Baranok emphasized that the enterprise fully provides its existing cattle population 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, it has rained three times already, and farmers hope that the weather will be warm soon, so that the grass can be nourished and the grain can grow.

The head of the district agricultural department noted that only Belarusian machinery is used for fodder harvesting in the district – from mowers to tractors. There are enough machine operators, and during the busy season, enterprises from Beshenkovichi region help by providing drivers, who are most often involved in transporting feed 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