At a livestock meeting in the Vitebsk Regional Executive Committee, issues of herd growth and cattle keeping technologies were discussed.
For almost a month, the region's livestock industry has been operating under special organizational and technological support for lagging farms. This is a sufficient period to achieve noticeable progress in improving production processes. According to the assessment of Boris Efremov, Deputy Chairman of the Regional Executive Committee, working groups of the Regional Agricultural Production Department note positive trends on the ground. Statistics also confirm their conclusions: according to preliminary information, for January-May, the growth rate of cattle breeding was 109.2%, and it is possible to better maintain the animal population.
— This is the result of the joint activity of the entire vertical of specialists – from the calf feeder to the farm manager and the district agricultural production department, — emphasized Boris Sergeevich. — At the same time, there are still many remarks, as a rule, they are typical and concern technological issues of keeping and feeding young animals.
For those who have adopted a wait-and-see attitude or are incapable of effective action, the conversation is becoming stricter. This was shown by the analysis of the working groups' visits to Chashniksky, Beshenkovichsky, and Shumilinsky districts. The essentially common violations and their causes differ in detail from farm to farm, and when collected together, they highlight a large-scale picture of unprofessionalism, irresponsibility, and apathy that undermine the economy of agricultural entities. And, by the way, they nullify the successes of those who work with dignity for the common result, trying to make the Vitebsk region one of the leading regions. Therefore, the leadership of the Regional Executive Committee will penalize the negligent.
— Labor remuneration should be high, but it must be money earned through concrete results, not just a "paycheck." Productivity in animal husbandry is ensured by strict adherence to simple technological regulations. Managers must create the conditions for this and achieve strict technological discipline from their subordinates.
Everything essentially comes down to solving a three-part task: we need to comprehensively manage insemination, livestock preservation, and weight gain.
For those managers who do not comply with the requirements, we will review the terms of labor remuneration. Moreover, the issue is critical: either we establish technological order, or others will do it, — emphasized the Chairman of the Regional Executive Committee, Nikolai Sherstnev.
After all, what sometimes happens. An animal that, according to technology, should be raised in 16 months takes twice as long and, accordingly, consumes twice the production resources. This is where the potential for cost optimization lies and a source of funds, including for ensuring decent labor remuneration for employees. For now, we have to use the working capital of agricultural product processors for this purpose.
A detailed analysis of shortcomings and violations was presented by the First Deputy Chairman of the Committee for Agriculture and Food of the Regional Executive Committee, Vladimir Mashero, using the example of the farms "Ivansky – Agro," "Prozemle – Agro," "Kashchinskoye," "Vedrenskoye – Agro" (Chashniksky District), "Beshenkovichi agroservice," "Drozdы – Agro," as well as "Shumilinsky rayagroservice," "Sirotinsky," "Lovzhanskoye," "Lezhni," "Pridvinsky," and several others.
The discussion primarily focused on compliance with technological regulations, inadequate feed quality, disregard for veterinary and sanitary requirements for livestock premises, violations in feeding technology (incomplete diets, absence of feed additives), and non-compliance with the production process for raising calves. Simultaneously, leveraging the capabilities of the regional executive committee's platform and broad regional representation, effective solutions to widespread problematic situations were discussed. For instance, the regional agricultural production committee requires the centralization of work with young stock in those farms where the necessary facilities are lacking. To this end, a farm in good condition is identified where calves from one or several farms are concentrated, and where the most qualified and responsible specialists can be gathered to care for the animals, explained Vladimir Mashero.
Moreover, officials from district agricultural production committees and chairpersons of district executive committees, responsible for building the overall strategy for the development of the agricultural complex within their districts, joined the working dialogue with enterprise managers. For example, common points included the need to consolidate unpromising farms and create inter-district specialized structures. However, this requires identifying the subjects of integration and promptly making management decisions in the regions.
Based on the results of May 2021, Braslavsky, Lepelsky, Sharkovshchinsky, and Shumilinsky districts did not achieve a daily weight gain of 500 grams per animal. In total, 29 farms in the region failed to meet the required performance indicator.