"The dictate of technology, nothing more." Malorita district is pleased with the corn harvest

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Anyone who thinks that with the end of the harvest, the battle for the harvest is also over, is mistaken. it simply moved from grain fields to corn and other areas. And with the end of summer, work for farmers has only increased. It’s not for nothing that people say: there are eight jobs in the fall. Here you have the harvesting of the queen’s fields, and the preparation of the soil for sowing winter crops, and the autumn sowing itself, which has already started in many farms in the Brest region. BELTA correspondents visited the Malorita region and were convinced that farmers do not have to relax yet.

“For me, now the battle for the harvest is going on. Even judging by the fuel consumption, and it is consumed one and a half to two times more than usual, now is the most intense time in agriculture. At the same time, everything is going on. We are preparing the soil for winter sowing. Tomorrow we have the beginning of sowing winter grain crops. Therefore, now plowing, disking, zero tillage are in full swing. Straw removal continues. Plus, grass is growing, and we also need to have time to remove them. But, in principle, we can cope. We need to lay everything we need, "for next year's harvest. There is no time to think about difficulties - we are working," says Sergei Gusak, DIRECTOR of the Savushkino agricultural unitary enterprise.

Together with the first deputy chairman of the Malorita district executive committee, HEAD of the department of agriculture and food, Vadim Golovchik, we meet with him at one of the farm’s corn plantations. Looking at how big this culture has grown here, you understand why it was once given the “royal” title. The forage harvester is practically invisible behind the high green wall. The dense golden ears look perfect.

“There is no through-corn, that is, pollination was normal, a full cob. The main corn yield, at least 40%, depends on the cob. If there is a good cob, then the harvest is greater. The most important thing in this feed is that all the energy is in the grain,” notes Vadim Golovchik. “Corn is definitely better this year. There are many fields where the yield is 300 centners. First of all, we are harvesting areas that need to be cleared for winter sowing,” explains the director of the Soup.

In total, 2.2 thousand hectares of corn have to be harvested on the farm. Of these, about 1.3 thousand hectares are for silage, the rest is for grain, half of which will be used for flattening. Rolled corn is a valuable component in animal feeding rations. In total, they plan to lay 36 thousand tons of silage here. "Savushkino", as you might guess from the name, specializes in the production of MILK, which accounts for 70% of all revenue. There are 2,630 cows on the farm, and 7,100 heads of cattle in total . 60 tons of milk are produced here every day. With such productivity of the dairy herd, a failure in technology means a loss in volume and quality of products. It is clear why feed is the most important thing for an agricultural enterprise.

Corn mass, enriched with preservatives, is stored in haylage and silage storage facilities. They are already 30% full. The largest is designed for 12 thousand tons of mass. After fermentation, there will be about 10-11 thousand tons of finished silage, which will last until April. Three forage harvesters are currently working on the farm’s fields to lay this trench. About 1.8 thousand tons of green mass are supplied here per day, which requires enhanced compaction. Therefore, 6 units of equipment are involved here - a powerful Kirovets K-701 tractor with special rollers, two AMKODOR 352 universal loaders with special forks for leveling bulk feed, two ordinary AMKODOR 342 loaders and a T-170 bulldozer.

“The mass must be evenly distributed along the rolling front. The layer for rolling should not exceed 15-20 cm, otherwise air will remain below, which will negatively affect the fermentation process. This is a very serious process, responsible. Dictate of technology, nothing more,” Sergey emphasized Gander.

The farm annually conducts production experiments with corn hybrids. There are about two dozen hybrids on the experimental field, mostly imported selection. Crops differ in height, degree of ripening, and completion of the cob. After harvesting, specialists will analyze the result and select the best yielding variety suitable for local lands.

We are wondering why we can’t rely on a well-proven hybrid and quietly work on it for years. “Our President correctly said: foreign seed producers initially lay down the fact that in two or three years the hybrid will become obsolete. And they are already offering us something else, new. And if you don’t carry out the experiment, in five years you can completely lose your prospects. Therefore, in order not to overpay, we will now have such experiments on almost all crops - both rapeseed and grains,” explains the director of the SUP.

On September 6, all agricultural organizations in the Malorita region began harvesting corn for silage. In total, 8 thousand hectares have to be removed for these purposes. The work is progressing at a good pace. As of today, a fourth of the planned area has already been removed - this is the third result in the Brest region. The average yield is 262 c/ha, which is comparable to last year’s level. At the same time, as of this date in 2022, only 8% of corn was harvested in the region.

“I think the yield will increase further, given the fact that the first corn was harvested on not the most fertile soils. In principle, the harvest has been formed. Before this, care measures were carried out throughout the entire area - the crops were treated with herbicides against weeds and fed with nitrogen fertilizers “We have enough equipment and fuel,” noted the head of the district agricultural food department.

The district's farms have already prepared 50 thousand tons of corn silage, which is 27.3% of the planned amount. In total, together with haylage from the grasses of the first and second cuttings, 16.25 quintals of feed units per conventional head of cattle were prepared in the region - this is 6 quintals more than last year and half of the annual target. In addition, 2.1 thousand hectares of corn are planned to be harvested for grain and 124 hectares for seeds. “The parent forms were brought from the Brest-grass enterprise. Today the crop is ripening. Starting approximately from the 20th of September, when the moisture content of the corn grain is below 40%, we plan to remove these areas. Firstly, these are marketable products that can be sold and make money. Secondly, it saves money. An average enterprise in our region needs to spend about Br150 thousand in the spring to purchase the required amount of corn seeds. Why not grow them at home and thereby reduce the cost of production,” Vadim Golovchik asks rhetorically.

The area is fully provided with silage and haylage storage facilities. Plus, this year two new trenches were built on farms and three more are being built. 29 forage harvesters of domestic and imported production are used for harvesting. The goal is to harvest corn for silage during September. “Everything has been calculated and discussed with the farms. A seminar-meeting was held at one of the enterprises. At the regional level, a similar event was held at the Zhuravlinoe OJSC in the Pruzhany district. We discussed tactics and technological aspects that need to be paid special attention to,” - shared the first deputy chairman of the district executive committee.

Also in the Malorita district, the harvesting of grain, leguminous and cereal crops has been completed. At the same time, sowing of winter grains began. The rapeseed has already been sown, and maintenance activities are actively underway there. And winter barley, rye, triticale and wheat must be sown at the optimal time for the Brest region - before September 30.

Svetlana VECHORKO,

photo by Vadim YAKUBENKO,

BELTA.