Farmers told how the heat and drought affected the grain harvest

July 13, Minsk . This year's drought has caused the grain harvest to start earlier than usual. Experts note: in the southern regions, winter crops are fully ripe, and in the rest, it is not far to the final ripeness. Together with the farmers, we are sorting out whether, thanks to the rains that fell after a long pause, it was possible to save the crop, how much grain is in the country's insurance fund and for what, as well as which crops nevertheless withstood the test of heat.

Belhydromet states: after the rains in most of Belarus, there is no question of soil drought. But in a number of districts of the Vitebsk region and in the northern part of the Minsk region, where there was less precipitation, the reserves of productive moisture in the ground are low. Nevertheless, the filling of grain continues on the main massifs, and the predominance of moderate temperature and sufficient moisture increases the duration of this process. And this is good news for farmers. This means that we can count on an increase in returns from each hectare of most fields.

The drought corrected not only the timing of the start of the harvest, but also the sequence of crops: earlier, the battle for the harvest began with winter rye, now - with winter barley. By the way, this year it was sown 2.7 times more, but even with such an increase, it occupies only 11% of arable land. The structure of sown areas in Belarus is stable, adjustments are possible by a maximum of 2%. The wedge of winter barley has expanded at the expense of winter rye, and triticale now occupies 161 thousand hectares, while spring barley - about 300 thousand hectares. The SPC of the National Academy of Sciences of Belarus for agriculture told that winter barley is an early ripening, high-yielding crop, which is the first to replenish the fodder base of livestock. Tatyana Belyan , director of Zavidovskoye OJSC in the Dobrush region, notes the trend of the last five years: in a changing climate, winter grain yields more than spring grain.

- Winter crops somewhere in the spring can be "adjusted" by top dressing, they manage to take enough moisture. And spring ones are more prone to the vagaries of the weather - either cold, or drought, or torrential rains. All this greatly affects the yield . Therefore, we rely on winter crops , - the manager explained and noted: since winter barley is harvested earlier, it makes it possible to conduct a kind of inspection of the machine and tractor fleet.

- Winter barley reaches wax and full ripeness at grain moisture content from 14% to 22%. As soon as such indicators were received, its cleaning started, - explains Oleg Klintsevich, head of the agrometeorology department of Belhydromet. - In those areas where crops this year felt the greatest deficit of soil moisture, the onset of full ripeness is possible as early as mid-July. That is, by the end of this week, wheat, rye, triticale in the south of the republic may actually be ready for selective harvesting. However, in general, the full ripening of grain in this region and in some places in the west of Belarus is expected closer to July 20.

In the rest of the country - in the third decade of July. That's when, according to the forecasts of Belhydromet, the mass harvesting of large bread will begin. And no matter what the yield in this dry year may be, the head of the Main Department of Crop Production of the Ministry of Agriculture and Food Nikolai Leshik guarantees that the country's food security will be ensured.

“In any case, the agricultural industry will fulfill the state order for the supply of grain, which is just over 1 million tons per year,” Nikolay Vladimirovich assures and lists all the components of the grain food basket: wheat, rye, rapeseed, barley, buckwheat, oats. - The most important thing is to feed Belarusians and collect seeds! Our insurance fund for winter and spring grains is 830,000 tons. We keep it just in case, although for more than a dozen years, thank God, everything is in order.

Grain is not only bread, but also milk , cheese, sour cream and meat . How so? The fact is that grains occupy a significant share in the feed ration of cattle , pigs and birds. And they are likely to be collected less this year than last year.

“For feeding farm animals, about 6.5 million tons of grain are required, because there are more than 4.19 million head of cattle on farms alone,” says Natalya Sonich, head of the Main Directorate for the Intensification of Animal Husbandry and Fisheries Activities of the Ministry of Agriculture and Food.

She explains that agricultural enterprises where such livestock are raised and milk is produced keep up to 30% of the feed grain at home, the rest is handed over to bakery plants, in order to receive it later in the form of mixed fodder.

- Most farms do not have the conditions for the production of high-grade mixed fodder. And KHP make them according to GOSTs and deliver them to farms at a small price, which is actually a payment for storing grain and processing it, - says Natalya Sonich.

We are wondering: will we be able to stock up on the necessary 6.5 million tons if, due to the drought, the ear is now not too weighty?

- No one on the farms sleeps in a hat, everyone thinks about how to feed the cattle in the future. When the harvest began, each leader signed contracts with farms for the purchase of fodder. Even now, our poultry and pig farms are provided with larger volumes of feed than in 2022,” the head of the department assured and noted that, if necessary, enterprises can buy grain in Russia, where its cost is even lower than ours.

In parallel with the harvesting campaign, hay and haylage are being harvested. About 1 million arable land is occupied by grasses such as alfalfa, clover. The drought had no effect on their harvest time. Most of the 1,300 farms in Belarus are already finishing second in a row. For example, in OJSC "Rassvet" named after K.P. Orlovsky "of the Kirov district of the Mogilev region.

“If it doesn’t dry out, we’ll get the right amount of both haylage and hay,” says the head of the farm, Alexander Bagel, and clarifies that the machine operators are already completing the harvesting of winter barley, under which there are 230 hectares. Productivity, despite the drought, is not bad - 50 kg / ha.

Wheat dominates on the fields of Rassvet, which, as Alexander Ivanovich noted, "has suffered more than others from the lack of rain, although in some places there are good fields." Withstood the test of drought and triticale, the grain of which will be used to feed 10.8 thousand heads of cattle.

And in the SEC "Svityazyanka-2003" of the Korelichi district of the Grodno region, the third mowing is already underway.

- There will be a fourth one, and a fifth one for alfalfa, - Alexander Metelitsa, the head of the SEC, is sure.

He is optimistic about the future, plans to increase livestock and, of course, milk yield. Here they already receive 2.2 liters of milk more per cow compared to the same period last year. One cow a day gives an average of 32.6 liters of white gold.

- Corn went up after the rains. Despite the drought, on the first day of harvesting, the yield of winter barley was 58 c/ha. Of course, we are not up to last year's figures, - Alexander Metelitsa admits. - But we will try to remove and save every grain.

If someone does not have enough feed for livestock this year, agribusiness is ready to lend its shoulder. For example, Konyushany-Agro LLC in the Lida region is counting on a good harvest of wheat.

- We have rains just to fill the grain fell. I think the rapeseed harvest will also be worthy, - says the head Sergey Krivenya, who was visited for feed grain, silage, hay and haylage all last year from other regions.

And what about the Minsk region, which suffered more than others from the drought, which lasted 74 days this year? Last year, the central region gathered a record harvest. In this, given the weather extreme, it is no longer necessary to talk about this.

- This year, difficult weather conditions were still in the spring, when there were heavy rains, and then cold weather set in. Vegetation of plants was very slow, as a result, winter cereals could not properly pass the tillering phase. And then came the drought, which lasted more than two months in the Minsk region. This is the first time we have encountered such a weather phenomenon. The plants were under severe stress. It was especially difficult for cereal crops on light soils. Separate sections "burnt", and even completely died. Losses amount to approximately 30% of all grain acreage, - Deputy Chairman of the Committee for Agriculture and Food of the Minsk Regional Executive Committee Sergei Primachenko told BelTA.

All areas of the central region found themselves in such a situation, so the fields formed a pattern of multi-colored patches - from whitish in the uplands to green in the wetter low places. And although all the technological processes were completed on time, the weather did not allow the ear to develop in full.

- About 500 thousand hectares of spring and winter cereals were planned for harvesting this year. If we take into account the volume of losses, then this figure will be reduced by about a third. For most grain crops, the situation, unfortunately, is already irreparable. Winter barley suffered to a lesser extent, since it is an early crop, although it was "burnt" in places. Winter triticale, wheat, rye, and oats suffered the most. Last year, we rejoiced at harvest records, but, as you can see, we are growing the 2023 harvest in a state of emergency,” Sergey Primachenko states.

Nevertheless, grain harvesting began in Nesvizh, Starodorozhsky, Stolbtsovsky, Volozhinsky, Berezinsky, Minsk and other regions. And if we talk about the yield, for example, of barley, then it is not bad: the highest so far is among Nesvizh residents - 58 centners per hectare, while the regional average is 42 centners per hectare. They also lead in rapeseed, receiving 22 centners per round. But this is only the beginning of suffering, and what will happen next, time will tell.

- I note that not a single culture has shown itself under the technological foundation that was provided. But I would like not to lose the harvest that will ripen. If the heat is replaced by prolonged rains, then the risks of another loss are high, - says the deputy chairman of the committee.

But even despite all the difficulties with which the battle for the harvest is given this year, bread prices will remain affordable, Sergei Primachenko assures:

- There is no cause for concern. The price for the state order has been formed, and this is sacred for any enterprise. Bread, flour of decent quality will be.

Tamara MARKINA,

newspaper "7 days".