How a Karelian potato grower began to breed Ayrshire and Kholmogory bulls

While still a schoolboy, Stanislav Bogoslovsky decided to build a career in agriculture. After graduating from the agricultural faculty of Petrozavodsk State University with a degree in agronomist, he got a job at the Pryazhinsky state farm as the head of the bakery department.

Then, in 2015, Stanislav began to engage in potato farming, and two years later he applied for a grant, although he was not included in the list of winners. However, this did not disappoint the novice farmer, but, on the contrary, became an incentive to explore new opportunities. In 2020, Stanislav bought a plot of land where the farm was located in the Pryazhinsky district of the Republic of Karelia, and again submitted an application to the regional Ministry of Agriculture . 

This time Bogoslovsky successfully defended his project, but not for potato growing, but for raising cattle . At an interview with experts from the competition commission, he presented a business plan, and as a result received a grant for the implementation of his plan in the amount of almost 9 million rubles (with his own co-financing - 20%). 

The farmer used the funds to restore buildings for keeping bulls, which he purchased in the amount of fifty head, as well as to purchase three tractors. 

“Today we already have 70 bulls on our farm. Mostly Ayrshire breed. We purchase from our Karelian state farms. We also tried to raise bulls of the Kholmogory breed and bought several heads in the Vologda region. I would like to note their high meat productivity. I think it will be possible to take more bulls of this breed. My main assistant and ideological inspirer is my wife Irina. By profession, she is a veterinarian , so she carefully monitors the nutrition and health of the bulls,” says Stanislav Bogoslovsky.

With demand for farm- raised beef high, the family farm has set a goal to nearly triple production. The food supply for wintering livestock on the farm has been prepared, and it is planned to install an automated manure removal system before the new year.