Farmers of the Chelyabinsk region celebrated their professional holiday with the hope of a good harvest

“We consistently occupy the first place in terms of arable land in the Ural Federal District, and in the whole country - 15th place. It is farmers who give the biggest increase in these indicators,” said the head of the region Alexei Teksler at the regional Farmer's Day in the village of Koelga, Etkul district. The rich program of the event included an exhibition and a demonstration of equipment, a tour of the fields, a visit to a new livestock complex and summing up the work of farms.
After a two-year break due to pandemic restrictions, farmers gathered again to discuss topical issues in the development of small businesses, receive well-deserved awards, and discuss industry news. It was possible to collect numerous farm assets on the basis of the Koelginskoye SPK named after Ivan Nikandrovich Shundeev. The site was not chosen by chance: the farm has been modernizing the livestock complex since 2019, there are two most modern carousel-type milking parlors, one of which was opened at the beginning of the year. Technologists and engineers of the enterprise are innovators not only in the choice of technical innovations, but also in their adaptation to modern and climatic conditions. What is worth only using a 3D printer for local production of components.
“We are not competitors, but allies, farmers have their own niche. The task, including state bodies, is to maintain this balance, - emphasized Anatoly Shundeev, chairman of the SEC Koelginskoye, - A very necessary farming movement, but, nevertheless, it was created against the backdrop of the collapse of large-scale production, which at that time was not enough in the world. But that's in the past. Today I pay respect to hard farm work, because I understand that it is much more difficult for a farmer to develop than for a large farm. It is very difficult, especially for those who start from scratch, without a big financial backlog, a big resource in people.” A significant part of the farms of the region, formed in the 90s of the last century, are successfully operating today. Young cadres are coming to farmers, and in the region a significant share of crop production is produced by farmers.
“Based on the results of the sowing campaign, we see that farms have again made a significant contribution to its implementation,” said Minister of Agriculture Alexei Kobylin. This year, farmers have increased their sown area by another 9%, or 78,000 hectares, to 956,000 hectares. On 18 thousand hectares - under grain crops, on almost 50 thousand hectares - under oilseeds, on 349 hectares - under potatoes and vegetables. The minister stressed that out of 14 farms that have certificates for seed production, more than half are farms. In the spring of this year, this product was in great demand. In addition, the farmers of the region account for half of the grain harvest, almost 70% - field vegetables, 36% - oilseeds. In animal husbandry, the participation of peasant farms is not yet so significant. According to the results of 5 months of this year, the number of cattle in the farms of the region is 41.8 thousand heads, including 20.7 thousand cows. This is about 18% of the total number of cattle and cows, including agricultural organizations and personal farms. As a positive fact, it can be noted that, despite the drought of previous years, farms managed to maintain their livestock and production volumes. For 5 months of the current year, the gross production of milk in small farms amounted to 11.1 thousand tons. This is 7.6% of the regional total. For 5 months of the current year, the gross production of milk in small farms amounted to 11.1 thousand tons. This is 7.6% of the regional total. For 5 months of the current year, the gross production of milk in small farms amounted to 11.1 thousand tons. This is 7.6% of the regional total.

Aleksey Kobylin urged farmers to develop a multi-structure of farms, to pay more attention to animal husbandry. Forage harvesting is starting in the Southern Urals, and the intensity of work in the fields is increasing again: “Now the fodder harvesting is already underway. In terms of the volume of harvested fodder, we already exceed the figures for last year, although at the beginning of the harvesting season we are 3 weeks behind. Good rains this year allow us to get good biomass, and this is our hope that we will be lucky this year in both dairy and beef cattle breeding, and we will end the year with good indicators,” the minister said.

Recall that the previous two years the region was covered by drought. To cope with its consequences, by decision of the governor, additional funds were allocated for the preparation of fodder and the purchase of seeds, which made it possible to successfully start the current season. The drought, and subsequently the increase in production costs after the announcement of sanctions, “washed out” the working capital of enterprises. Therefore, in June, at the suggestion of the governor, a regional law was adopted that resets the single agricultural tax rate for 2022-2024 for farms that maintain jobs or increase employment. In general, since the beginning of the year, farmers in the Southern Urals have already received state support from the regional and federal budgets totaling 1.2 billion rubles, these are various subsidies, including for growing crops, and grant support to farmers.

For Marat Kamalov, this harvest will be the 57th and 21st as a farmer. This year, he sowed a thousand hectares of grain crops, planted 150 hectares of potatoes and more than 6 hectares of vegetables: “I don’t have more land nearby, it would be more, I would increase the area of ​​​​grain crops. It is easier to work on grain crops; in terms of labor intensity, potatoes exceed grain crops by 20-25 times. All year round it is necessary to work with potatoes and vegetables, and the harvest may deteriorate. It is necessary to maintain storage facilities, keep the temperature regime. Today the weather is cool and the rains helped to get good seedlings. Today there is enough moisture for potatoes and vegetables, we only have time to process: we carry out agrotechnical work and chemical treatments so that there are no weeds. Over the past 3-4 years, good high-performance potato varieties have been selected. State support is 10 thousand rubles. per hectare of potatoes. We reimbursed 33% of our sowing costs last year, this year - 41%. For cereals - 51%. Mineral fertilizers were purchased for 2.3 million rubles, about 800 thousand rubles were returned to us, which is about 40% of the costs. Good equipment will also help to raise productivity. In order for young people to go to work, a good salary is needed, and we spend a lot of money on the purchase of fertilizers, fuel and lubricants. I think that these issues need to be dealt with. We expect a good harvest, but prices, I think, will go down. what needs to be done about these issues. We expect a good harvest, but prices, I think, will go down. what needs to be done about these issues. We expect a good harvest, but prices, I think, will go down.
If the future harvest pleases, then the decline in prices for grain and oilseeds causes anxiety among farmers. Price disparity (a disproportionate increase in costs in relation to prices for finished products) is especially acute in dairy farming. Modernization, cost reduction, and the cultivation of highly productive livestock help to fight it. In order to replenish the “dairy rivers” in the farms every year, Anatoly Shundeev presented breeding bulls to five farmers, grant recipients of this year under the Agrostartup program: “We decided to give a gift to small farms, beginners who will be engaged in dairy farming for the free purchase of breeding Holstein bulls with a good pedigree. I guarantee that after him the offspring will be no worse than American and German.
According to the preliminary results of the agricultural micro-census among the regions of the Ural Federal District, the Chelyabinsk region ranks first in terms of the number of farms, the availability of agricultural land and sown areas in this category of farms. They account for 47% of agricultural land and 51% of the sown area of ​​farms in the Ural Federal District. Among the regions of the Ural Federal District, the largest number of cattle, including cows, is kept in farms in the Chelyabinsk region. As of August 1, 2021, there were 1,247 peasant (farmer) households and individual entrepreneurs engaged in agricultural activities in the Chelyabinsk region. Compared to 2016, the area of ​​agricultural land of farmers increased by 20%, the total sown area - by 40%.

Press Center of the Ministry of Agriculture of the Chelyabinsk Region