“It is forbidden to shout at cows, and they must be fed according to the recommendations of scientists.” A unique approach to milk production AF Module

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Today, the farms of this farm with a difficult history are filled with well-fed and clean cows. Although just recently, just to enter there, rubber boots were required, and the livestock did not have enough feed... Everything changed with the arrival of the team of Alexey Savchuk - one of the most famous investors in the dairy industry of RUSSIA and Belarus - shareholder of OJSC Dairy Hills and owner of the Exponenta brand.

We fed the cattle, took off our boots

Two years ago, the farm was transferred to the investor and his team by Presidential Decree - with a seven-year schedule for the step-by-step modernization of buildings and structures, the purchase of livestock, and equipment. Everything is under the strict control of KGC . Having received land and herds in their hands, the team first started feeding cattle , as they say, on wheels: they purchased feed throughout the region.

“The farm was in serious condition. For six months I got up at four in the morning and drove to all the farms where it was impossible to walk without rubber boots,” admits Roman Kononov, DIRECTOR of AF Module LLC. “Today we have created comfortable conditions for animals, and people can even walk around farms in shoes or sneakers.

The first sowing campaign was carried out using inherited equipment. Then we purchased two energy-rich tractors, attachments for plowing, sowing and other agricultural technologies. That is, in 2022 we fulfilled a significant part of the financial requirements of the investment plan!

Today, one of the most important tasks is the serviceability of equipment, without which there is nowhere in animal husbandry or crop production.

“The heart of the farm is the machine and tractor park,” notes Roman Kononov. – Without the competent work of mechanical yard specialists, failures may occur in the technical processes of feeding and caring for animals and in all types of field work.

On the site of a destroyed farm

MILK is the main route of AF Modul LLC. Today the farm's cattle population is 2,670 heads, of which 1,247 are milking herds. In two years, the enterprise has grown by 400 cattle places.

“We are fulfilling our obligations to the state,” says Roman Kononov and leads us to the farm, which is visible from the windows of the office. There was once a dairy herd here, but then the buildings were empty: the roof and walls collapsed, the yard was overgrown with weeds.

- We restored everything. Moreover, they do it on their own, using their own resources - there is a team of builders on the farm. Now there are 370 heifers here,” explains Roman Viktorovich and leads us along the feeding tables filled with food.

One is struck by the cleanliness and well-groomed nature of every corner of the calf barn, the rounded sides of its inhabitants, which speak of their good appetite, as well as their curiosity that knows no bounds: here the animals are not at all afraid of people.

“In our country it is forbidden to beat or shout not only at calves, but also at adult cows, which previously on the farm were even urged to be milked with a pitchfork. It’s easy to understand the animal : you just have to come and walk around the barns for a couple of hours and observe what everyone needs. For one cow, tidy up the stall: the animal should be dry. Another – it’s time to move the feed mixture – that’s all. And no one should bother them,” the manager deduces a simple formula for success in livestock farming.

Milk from AF Module LLC is sold by OJSC Dairy Hills, and MEAT is sold to the Akdimol meat processing plant - another enterprise in common with the investor’s farm.

Comfortable, warm and dry

On this day we visited other farms of the economy, as well as two MTCs - in the villages of Chist and Osovets. Everywhere we saw very humane conditions for keeping animals. We noted the ideal cleanliness, the absence of farm smells, excellent ventilation and the presence of fans (they turn on when it’s above +25): it’s comfortable here for animals and working people. The cows were resting on their beds and chewing cud in anticipation of the day's milking. The milk taxis were also already parked after feeding the calves warm milk. The kids feasted on dry food, tasted the hay, and washed it down with water.

The older chicks licked the SALT and chalk, but when they saw people, they also came up to introduce themselves. Interest in us disappeared when we saw a feed dispenser driving down the aisle, along the feeding tables - it was time for their lunch. The equipment is from the best manufacturers, computerized: it selects ingredients, prepares feed from them for different groups of animals, and then transports them and distributes them to farms.

The feed is sold with a bang: livestock breeders only have time to push it to the happy faces of cows and veals. This is how milk yield and weight gain increase. On average, the cattle of this farm gain weight up to 836 grams per day. Not bad for two years of intensive work to fulfill the tasks undertaken by the investor and prescribed by the state!

Dairy taxi

We didn’t see people who didn’t know what to do on the farms in Chisti, Osovets and Videvshchina. But we met those who are passionate about their work.

The first was a veterinarian with six years of experience, Anastasia Rogach. Before arriving at AF Modul LLC, the girl went through a good school in one of the best farms in the Postavy region.

Literally for a minute - for a photo shoot - two paramedics-gynecologists Artem Yatskevich and Robert Demidovich were taken away from examining the HEALTH of cows for their pregnancy. All three, as well as the HEAD of AF Modul LLC Roman Kononov, are young and very enthusiastic people.

The livestock and calf breeders we met also turned out to be people dedicated to their enterprise and loving animals. The speed with which livestock breeders Natalya Bartosh and Elena Klimovich worked at the feed tables, we admit, had not been seen before on any of the farms - professionals! And how tender the calf breeder Natalya Konopelko was with her charges - well done!

By the way, from the first day on the farm, the cattle are fed according to the recommendations of scientists. For example, for young animals and cows with a decline in lactation, only compound feed is prepared: the premixes, macro- and microelements specified in the recipe are added to the crushed grain. For babies, feed is purchased at the KHP. The smallest calves are also fed with warm milk, which is delivered to the farms by milk taxis purchased last year.

And stone is not a hindrance

The farmland of JSC AF Modul is 5.7 thousand hectares, of which arable land is 3.9 hectares, but it has its own characteristics.

“The farm is compact, the logistics are convenient, but the soil density is low,” states the manager and clarifies another annoying feature of the local soils for plant growers: the presence of stones that tend to appear from under the ground literally every year. – We have improved the Soviet-made stone picker. But her efforts are not enough. On weekends in the fall and spring, we take workers from the accounting department and other departments of the office into the fields and arrange them in a chain.

As Roman Kononov, director of AF Module LLC, admitted in a conversation, several factors contributed to the rise of the farm at the start. First, of course, investments . Secondly, the enthusiasm of the team, who believed that, finally, everything would work out and go on its way. Thirdly, the weather also helped in 2022.

“Last year turned out to be successful for grains and rapeseed,” noted Roman Kononov. “This only happens once every five years.” This made it possible to create our own reliable food supply by the end of 2022. The company's revenue amounted to one million rubles. Thanks to the creation of a reliable supply of feed, four months of 2023 exceeded the indicators of 2022.

Despite the drought: three sowings and four mowings

But the current harvest weather has reminded the country’s farmers that we live in a risky farming zone. The farm collected 2.8 thousand tons of grain, and planned - 9 thousand. There is enough grain for fodder, but there is no more grain for sale. Due to drought, 300 hectares of grain group, when the grain reached waxy ripeness, were forced to be mowed and placed in a haylage trench, and in their place millet and grass were sown. We sowed 350 hectares with alfalfa and other grasses, which, having grown, resulted in a fourth cutting.

“Their yield next year will be even higher, and the food supply will be more reliable,” Roman Kononov is sure.

Rapeseed meal remains a good addition to the cattle diet. This year’s rapeseed yield is lower than last year’s, but still pleased: 28 c/ha (in 2022 – 36 c/ha). The rapeseed is sold, and its processor Sodrugestvo-Agrotrade LLC returns the rapeseed meal to the farm for livestock feed.

The farm continues to harvest corn, the growth of which slowed down a little during the drought, but then began to grow. In parallel with the threshing of corn, the arable land is being prepared for winter crops, and they are being sown.

“Despite the weather surprises, milk volumes for the year will reach 12-13 tons per day,” says Roman Viktorovich, inspecting the fields where preparations for sowing were underway. – That is, we will continue to increase the rate of dairy raw materials!

AF Modul LLC will succeed. The leadership of the Molodechno district executive committee is also confident in this. Noting the successes in the management of the investor team headed by Roman Kononov, in April 2023 the state transferred another farm, Vostok-Agro OJSC, to AF Module LLC for three years in trust, with the right of further redemption. There, too, the first thing Roman Kononov’s team did was feed the herd:

– Since April, we began shipping our own feed – haylage and silage – so we restored feeding technology and increased milk volumes. Over 6 months, daily milk yield at Vostok-Agro OJSC increased from 12 tons to 22 tons - that is, doubled. The weight gain of cattle has also doubled - from 350 g per day to 720, says Roman Viktorovich and notes that despite the difficulties, this year a reliable feed base will be created at both Voskhod-Agro OJSC and AF Modul LLC.

If by 2026 the farm under trust management achieves the performance indicators specified in the agreement, it will become part of AF Modul LLC - along with its lands (14 thousand farmlands, of which 8.5 thousand are arable land), as well as cattle population, which today numbers 3.2 thousand heads, of which 1.6 thousand are dairy cows.

To whom - a house, to whom - an apartment

At the entrance to the office of AF Modul LLC there is a brief biography of the farm and the team’s plans for the future. And above all this in capital letters: We make our lives better! - a very motivating slogan.

“One is not a warrior in the field: without people, a manager can do nothing, no matter what specialist you put in charge,” Roman Kononov deduces the formula for success of agricultural business management and clarifies that today the farm employs 134 people, many of whom have been working for more than a dozen years. When the investor came, no one was fired. With the exception of those who like to drink: get caught twice - get ready, the third time - leave. As production volumes increased, wages began to rise. If previously a milkmaid received 700-800 rubles, now she receives from 1.5 to 2.2 thousand rubles per month, depending on milk yield and shifts worked.

Both teams have also been replenished with specialists. For example, Voskhod-Agro OJSC hired two young veterinarians and one experienced one. The latter teaches young beginners what he knows. Now each farm has four veterinarians.

These specialists are paid accordingly: there is no loss of livestock - you get 2.5 thousand in your hands.

Every specialist gets a company car. Machine operators and milkmaids at AF Modul LLC are brought to work and back by bus.

Housing is also in order. A number of specialists, machine operators, livestock breeders and field farmers live in nice houses. Those who come to work on the farm may be offered a service apartment in a high-rise building. They can also give you an individual house, however, such houses require repairs. So, recently one of them was put in order and given to two young agronomists. At the same time, we purchased a washing machine, a refrigerator, and beds with linens for them.

Another house - in Chisti - went to the large family of a machine operator who today works on that same feed dispenser. The house was also pre-renovated and home appliances were purchased. By the way, for Dazhynka-2023 in the village of Chist, the builders of AF Modul LLC helped the area put buildings and structures in order. The farm also purchased and installed a playground for the children’s delight. Grow up big, children , to the joy of mom, dad and the country!

One of the most important tasks is the serviceability of equipment, without which there is nowhere in animal husbandry or crop production.

Tamara MARKINA, photo - Tatiana MATUSEVICH