Committee for Agriculture and Food: In the Vitebsk region, mass fodder harvesting begins on June 1
— The first cut will provide one-third of the required amount. The task is to procure 30 centners of fodder units per conventional head, taking into account a one-and-a-half-year supply of fodder. This will include the second cut, annual crops, and corn. The minimum we must store to ensure good productivity through winter is 25 centners per cow, — said Yuri Romanov, Deputy Head of the Department of Land Cultivation, Crop Production, and Fodder Production of the Vitebsk Regional Executive Committee's Agriculture and Food Committee.
Currently, dry weather prevails in the north of the country, while spring crops and grasses desperately need moisture to grow. Forecasters predict warm nights, and farmers are also hoping for rain, which would promote vigorous growth of greenery. For now, those who have started mowing are testing their equipment and harvesting only 10-20 hectares, exclusively for supplementary feed.
In the structure of perennial grasses on arable land, legumes and legume-cereal grass mixtures account for 81 percent. Red clover alone occupies 42 thousand hectares, and alfalfa — 4.7 thousand hectares. Grass undersowing is also predominantly done with legume and legume-cereal mixtures.
— Science recommends harvesting the first cut of grasses within 14-18 days, but experience shows it takes longer. Sometimes it's due to rain, sometimes equipment breakdowns, or fuel supply issues, — noted Yuri Romanov.
Meanwhile, farmers are optimistic about the mowing season: equipment is better prepared than last year. Approximately 150 mowing units are involved in this process daily.
The region's farms have 462 fodder harvesting combines, 883 tractor mowers, 520 tractor rakes, 508 balers for hay and straw, and 75 combined balers with stretch film wrapping.
— Primarily
— Our machinery is domestic, but all the combined balers are of foreign production. For known reasons, the prices for spare parts have jumped, and there are problems with delivery times. Contracts are concluded, everything is paid for, we are waiting. This is what spoils the overall picture for us, — emphasized Nikolay Korotkevich, Deputy Chairman of the Vitebsk Regional Executive Committee's Committee for Agriculture and Food.
Some farms are purchasing spare parts with their own or borrowed funds, while others are acquiring them with the help of subsidies from district or regional budgets. The situation with fuel is almost the same. Everything comes down to money.
Approximately 5,000 people are needed for uninterrupted work in the fields of the region. By order of the regional executive committee, an additional 350 machine operators will be involved from external organizations to assist agricultural workers, including those with vehicles and tractors for hauling and tamping silage mass.
— We hope that nothing will prevent us from preparing the fodder harvesting machinery for the start of the mass mowing and commencing work in the fields, — said Nikolay Korotkevich.