Lunin method: work ahead of the curve

The Luninets district is consistently among the top ten in the ranking of the Brest region. On such, as they say, our agriculture rests. A significant contribution to the district treasury is made by one of its leaders - JSC "Luninsky". The agricultural enterprise has been proving for many years that it is possible not only to engage in dairy and MEAT production at the same time, but also to obtain the status of a breeding farm.

Dairy Pros

The agricultural cooperative in the agricultural town of Lunin was established in 1948. There were ups and downs in the history of development, but in general, the economy almost always kept a high bar in all areas of activity. I must say, we were lucky with the leaders who headed the farm for 15-20 years.

So the current DIRECTOR of OJSC "Luninsky" Vasily Melyukh has been holding this position for the 22nd year. He started in 1984 as a foreman, worked as a site manager, foreman, and engineer. In a word, he went through all the steps of the career ladder.

– This is how it should be: thanks to the accumulated experience in crop production, mechanization, construction, animal husbandry, social work, the future leader broadens his horizons, gains knowledge in all areas of the economy. You completely own the information, - Vasily Stepanovich is sure. – By today's standards, our OJSC is relatively small. A total of 4211 hectares of farmland and 2742 arable land. It so happened historically that only 800 hectares of our lands are located around the agro-town of Lunin, where the central farmstead is located. The rest of the array is 15 kilometers away, on the territory of two neighboring farms at once.

The agricultural enterprise specializes in the production of dairy and meat products. Most of the money in the treasury, according to the director, brings MILK . In general, the profit on the farm for 2020 amounted to 1 million 138 thousand rubles (plus 22% by 2019). Profitability has developed at the level of almost 15%.

There are three livestock facilities in the structure of the farm: in 2012, according to a modern project, a dairy complex was built, where today the entire dairy herd is kept. Another farm was adapted for fattening cattle (220 heads). The third farm raises heifers and heifers.

- The density of livestock is quite high - 86 heads per 100 lands. Therefore, each piece of land is involved and has its own purpose. Dairy herd - 820 cows. At the end of 2020, milk yield per cow amounted to 6185 liters of milk, gross milk yield increased by 19.7%. Profitability for the sale of milk is above 50%, - the director notes. – There is still room for growth, of course. We will complete additional premises at the complex this year and slightly increase the number of livestock.

By the way, from 2000 to the present day, the farm has been adding annually both in terms of milk yield per cow and in terms of gross production. So, for 20 years there has not been a single year that these indicators have decreased by at least one percent.

New status

In 2021, such a significant event can be noted in the history of JSC as obtaining the status of a breeding farm for breeding the Aberdeen Angus meat breed. What does it give? Firstly, it testifies to the high level of selection and breeding work carried out by the specialists of the agricultural enterprise. Secondly, it is a guarantee of its economic stability and evidence that potential buyers of pedigree breed can purchase cattle with high quality characteristics here.

Why Aberdeen? In fact, the Aberdeen Angus breed of cows has long been confidently occupying the first lines in the popularity rating of cattle in the meat direction. In addition, animals are quite unpretentious in care, quickly gain weight and easily acclimatize. They retain reproductive abilities throughout their lives, and when crossed, they convey well the virtues of the breed - meat qualities, precocity and hornlessness.

– Once upon a time, they started with the purchase of four breeding bulls. We decided to try it and see what happens. As a result, over the years, a purebred herd has been built up, and now, so to speak, they have officially certified it, having received a breeding passport, Vasily Stepanovich clarifies.

Think about tomorrow

Crop production in an agricultural enterprise works primarily for the livestock industry, the priority is the preparation of a full-fledged forage base. Despite all the cataclysms of nature, both in dry and rainy years, the farm tries to get the maximum yield.

By the way, in 2020, 33.4 centners of grain were harvested from one hectare of land, showing the second result in the region.

- I remember when I took over this farm, then in the spring we had neither hay, nor silage, nor straw. I had to search around the area, buy from other farms. So when you have already passed such a school, you will always work ahead of the curve. And I try to teach young people this way: you need to be a diligent owner, - the HEAD of Luninsky OJSC believes. - We have a well-coordinated team, which is why any work goes well. For example, we see that a good harvest from winter crops will not come out this year, which means that in the spring we are focusing on sowing spring crops. We supplement one with the other, while performing all operations in optimal agrotechnical terms.

The overall result depends on the personal contribution of each employee. In this regard, JSC "Luninsky" was lucky: the people here are hard-working and very responsible, they are used to completing any business. So, every machine operator, driver or tractor driver is a jack of all trades. They can handle any business: from sowing, top dressing, fodder harvesting to helping neighboring farms. Yes, and technology, I must say, to match the farmers.

- Once we plowed with five or six MTZ-80 tractors with small plows of 3 hectares, there were 96 machine operators on the staff, four auto-tractor brigades. But technology, like technology in agriculture, does not stand still, there is a large-scale development. Today, for 25 machine operators, instead of 18 combines that were involved in the 2000s, we have only 6 most powerful units, - the source notes. - We tried to automate and mechanize the processes as much as possible. Even on farms, we have already completely eliminated manual labor. For premises that were built in the old days and where modern equipment could not enter, we ordered tractors with low-profile cabs.

Personnel potential

For many times during our conversation, Vasily Melyukh repeats that the successful operation of an agricultural enterprise, each of the results in any direction of work is all collective victories. And, looking at the success of the economy, it is difficult to disagree with this. In total, there are 143 people in the state.

Experienced farmers who have given agriculture 10, 15 and even 20 years, and young people who think in innovation and are ready to experiment, work shoulder to shoulder here.

- Over the past five years, we have literally rejuvenated our team, 100% provided ourselves with specialists. Chief engineer, power engineer, livestock specialist, accountant, agronomist - these are all young people, and very promising, - the head of the JSC smiles.

Chief livestock specialist Alexander Dudka has been working here for 6 years. He admits that at school he did not even think about working in agriculture. But, as you know, life is unpredictable.

– I wanted to learn a completely different profession related to land reclamation. But it turned out how it happened, - the specialist smiles. – It was easy to study, probably, that's why it is interesting for me to work. Even after so much time I learn something, I get a new experience. In agriculture, it's not like it doesn't happen year after year - here every day is not like the previous one. Yes, and a lot depends on the person: it is important for me that everything is on top. Therefore, I look at the farms on weekends, and on vacation I can stop by more than once, see how they fed the cattle, how much they milked. Everything is important, even the smallest nuance.

So Svetlana Navarich, the chief veterinarian of Luninsky, by the will of fate, connected her life with this profession. True, 10 years have passed, but there has not been a day that the specialist regretted something.

“I always dreamed of being a teacher.

At school I learned to play the button accordion, so my mother and I thought that I would teach this to children after high school. And it wasn’t there, - tells his story

Svetlana. - I entered, only to the paid department. At that time, my older sister was already studying, and it would be very difficult for my mother, who raised us alone, to pay also for my education. So I came home, got my driver's license, and went to an agricultural college. Already being a certified specialist, she came to her native land. The farm gave me a house, my husband also works here as a livestock breeder. So we live, we raise two children. This is probably not often seen now, but I am a happy person: I was lucky with my family and with my place of work.

In 2021, OJSC "Luninsky" received the status of a breeding farm for breeding Aberdeen Angus, meat breed.

According to the results of harvesting 2020, the grain yield on the farm amounted to 33.4 centners per hectare. This is the second result among the agricultural organizations of the Luninets region.

Important numbers:

Farmland - 4211 ha

Arable land - 2742 ha

Dairy herd - 820 heads

Milk yield per cow (for 2020) - 6185 l

Grain yield - 33.4 q/ha

Profitability of milk - above 50%

Household profit (for 2020) - 1 million 138 thousand rubles

Team - 143 people

Average salary - 1017 rubles.

Marina VALAKH

Pavel ORLOVSKY