Head of KFH Yuri Korshunov - about the components of successful agribusiness, state support and personnel strategy

Thirty years peasant farm "Pralesak" in the Mogilev district is headed by Yuri Korshunov. He was recognized as a person of the year in the Mogilev region, heads the regional Union of Farmers, was elected to the district and regional Councils of Deputies, a delegate to the All-Belarusian People's Assembly. In the past, Yuri Korshunov is a citizen, and now his son is his right hand, his grandson helps on vacation for harvest. Most workers come every day from Mogilev, and the farmer builds houses to bring people back to the village and get interested in working on the land.

Born in Mogilev, entered the Polytechnic, then on correspondence to the Mechanical Engineering Institute. Yuri Korshunov says that as a child, he spent the whole summer in the village, like many of his peers, helping his grandmother and grandfather on the household, but the choice of the business of his whole life was determined by chance. Back in Soviet times, when he worked as a driver in a trade organization and visited abroad, he first saw farmers and became interested in agribusiness:

- We did not have farming at that time, but there was a boom in cooperatives during perestroika. I called mine “Forest Fairy Tale” because my two hectares were located almost on forest glades. He was engaged in fattening cattle, built a barn, grew potatoes and he worked the soil on two horses: Galka and Baby.

Yuri Korshunov recalls empty shelves in the 1990s and compares it to today’s abundance in grocery stores: Who would have thought that Belarusians would export meat and milk? In 2025, exports of food and agricultural raw materials from Belarus reached a record $10 billion. Today, the agro-industrial complex is one of the key engines of the national economy. The official starting point for the formation of farming is considered to be 1991, when the Supreme Soviet of the BSSR adopted the Law “On Peasant (Farm) Farming”. Yuri Korshunov was among the first. In the period of the formation of farming, the norms for the provision of land for peasant farming were often limited to local executive committees and legislation within 50 hectares, then it was possible to take as much as 100, and today the farmer already has about 2 thousand hectares. The first farmers and the newly created peasant farms received a unique economic benefit due to preferential loans and hyperinflation. In the wake of perestroika, the state tried to stimulate private initiative on the land. The first farmers, the bank issued impressive loans at a minimum interest.

- I invested every penny in the purchase of a fleet of agricultural machinery, and it was a real impetus in the development, says the farmer. Yes, it was a risk, few people supported me, and my mother believed that I chose the right path. At the same time, he was engaged in cargo transportation, and this was a help. Since then, I have been repeatedly convinced that without state support, the development of the farmers’ movement would have been impossible in our country.

This year, KFH Pralesak in terms of yield took first place in the region. The average yield of grain and legumes is 65.2 centners per hectare. Here sow oats, barley, wheat, corn, triticale, this year tried buckwheat. The boss says he ruined everything. Part for the state order, something for sale, as well as for the production of feed for their own herd.

- I understood for myself and I advise novice farmers that grain should be passed through livestock breeding - this is the creation of added value, notes Yuri Korshunov. — Everything is in the process: this year, 11,000 bales of straw have been screwed up, about 2,000 tons of manure have been made in the spring, and this has touched the fertility. It is clear that the land at the time was allocated to farmers not the best, today my land is well-groomed. There is no bad land, there is a bad master.

This year, the farmer sows elite and super-elite seeds of higher reproductions with reference genetic properties that determine the productivity of the entire future crop. There is still a lot of work ahead: harvesting corn for grain, clover for seeds, applying fertilizers. In the field where the mechanizer sows rye, the farmer sits at the helm of the forklift, picks up big bags (soft polypropylene containers) with seeds and puts them in the seeder bunker. By the way, on this day he himself delivered a new corn reaper from Gomselmash - he will attach to the harvester and he will remove the queen of the fields himself. The day before I brought fertilizers from Soligorsk. He is a supplier, a logistician, and a mechanizer. The case of technology Yuri Korshunov demonstrates a solid fleet of equipment at the mehdvor. Combine 11, one purchased by leasing this year. On the new "Polesye" he threshed about a thousand tons of grain. The farmer focuses on the owner's attitude to expensive equipment and demonstrates tractors "Belarus", which under 20 years old, they are still on the move:

- Here come to get a job woe-mechanizers, and I immediately see that he does not have a careful attitude to the car: not mine — not a pity. We don't hire people like that. You see, in my case, everything is dictated by the ruble: we earned it, invested in the purchase of a tractor, we pay a loan. But how to form such responsibility in agricultural organizations, where employees and managers do not feel like masters, is a question. The head of state always talks about the importance of careful attitude to expensive agricultural machinery and rightly demands to come to a common denominator for its operation, and not put under the fence in a couple of years.

Yuri Korshunov believes that the President’s attention to the development of engineering for agriculture has become a point of growth of the industry, without this there would be no such leap in the development of agriculture:

- Once I dreamed about 20 centners per hectare, and today 60. Energy-saturated domestic equipment is a key factor. Here I have a harvester “Polesie” for four seasons has never broken. Our manufacturers of agricultural machinery have an important task - ensuring the technological independence of the agro-industrial complex and the production of competitive, innovative machines. The head of a farm has to be an economist, a supplier, a veterinarian, a mechanizer, and a foreman. Now overhauling the veal and building houses. Empty plots of land in the village of Dubinke abound, restored order and built eight houses. Among the local residents are mostly pensioners, but now the view of the village streets has changed, and there are prospects for the development of the territory. The places here are beautiful. There is a lake, once a farmer landscaped the crynica, built a chapel, so the plans are to develop agroecotourism. Another new building is a dining room for employees.

But the main purpose of new houses is to attract personnel. Good machines and milkmaids worth their weight in gold. We go with Yuri Korshunov to one of the cottages. This is a log cabin, in the yard there is a bath and household building, and in the house itself there is electric heating, a shower corner, a gas stove and even furniture.

- I made sure that a person wants to move to such housing, where everything is for a comfortable life, says the head of the farm. For example, he found a good family from the Khotim district. She is a cattle breeder, he is a mechanizer, the child went to study in Mogilev. They will move, but they will have their own house, so in the new place I have to take care of all-inclusive.

Yuri Korshunov admits that the construction of housing on their own without loans took more than ten years: they bought timber, processed themselves, even part of their own furniture. The final finishing work is now underway. The farmer decided that after ten years of hard work, he would transfer the houses to the property. I am sure that this is an expensive, but effective strategy that solves the long-term tasks of business to retain key personnel. We need to further develop livestock. We donate milk only in the extra class, says Yuri Korshunov. The cows are clean, well-fed, equipped milking room. But the most important growth points in milk are frames. It's a big problem to find a good milkmaid. The attitude of the machine milking operator to its work directly affects production indicators, because the effectiveness of milk production depends on the complex physiology of the cow and strict compliance with sanitary standards. But sometimes, to be honest, you have to do a job for one of them. I can take a hotel, and treat, and milk, but at every workplace there should be a caring, responsible person.

Farmer emphasizes that with such large-scale investments in housing, equipment and the creation of working conditions, he simply cannot afford a formal approach to recruitment for the sake of a tick, because this leads to direct financial losses. The payback of such investments requires concrete steps in personnel policy: increasing labor productivity, attracting young and ambitious personnel, and creating personal responsibility.

Now of the 14 permanent workers — the backbone of the farm — most come from the city. And that's the asterisk task of finding people who are willing to come to the village and work the land.

- At one time, all parents in the village tried to get their child to escape to the city for a better life, notes Yuri Korshunov. - But reality has changed. Is it not prestigious today to work in agriculture, earn a good salary, work on modern technology, live in a spacious house in the fresh air, have your own piece of land? But the best workers on earth are those who were born on it, who have a connection with this land and an understanding of peasant labor. Therefore, I believe that all measures of state support, the President’s attention to the revival of the village will bear fruit. The farmer is convinced that the development of rural infrastructure is only the material basis of deurbanization, while its main driver is the transformation of value orientations and the reset of public thinking. As proof of his concept of the power of roots, Yuri Korshunov cites the example of his family. Son Ivan helped in the field from school, studied as a lawyer, tried to work in the city and returned because his help was needed here on earth. Today, he is the right hand of his father, responsible for crop production. Ivan has three children. The elder, also Ivan, is studying at the last year of the Academy of Management under the President, this summer he helped his grandfather on the harvest.

- Wet about 600 tons, says the farmer. On our scale, this contribution is very significant. I don’t know what path he will take. But I think if he becomes a leader, this experience will be very useful to him. I am sure that without trying hard work with your own hands, without learning to respect the people who work on the ground, a person will not become a good leader. If anything, there are three houses in the village: mine, for my son and grandson. Bet on the farmer Yuri Korshunov heads the public association “Union of farmers of the Mogilev region”. The association protects the interests of farmers in the region, raises issues of interaction with processors and the development of agribusiness. This is the link between the government and farmers. Farms have become an integral part of the country’s food security. The state is interested in their development, it is necessary to build a dialogue. Let me give you one example. Farmers were included in the accounting report – they had to submit expanded information about their activities. We made an appointment with the Presidential Administration, where we raised this issue. Now we have a simplified form of accounting, says the head of the farm.

Farmers advocate equal conditions of competition with large agricultural enterprises, since the effective work of small agribusiness is impossible without integration into general state programs.

- Leasing at a small percentage acquired a lot of equipment – this is a significant help, in the spring received fertilizers with a deferred payment partially for needs, notes Yuri Korshunov. I believe: who works how – this and support from the budget is commensurate with the volume of production for fuel, spare parts and so on. We need to give land to farmers who have already shown something. Our farm for decades has gained an image, increased the area from 50 to 2 thousand hectares, strengthened the fleet of equipment, built and invested in development. For 2025, milk production amounted to 1887.6 tons, meat - 73.4 tons. I am often approached by novice farmers: where to start? I am always ready to help, because I want more people who like working on the land: let it be farming, personal subsidiary farming.

If you ask about the trends of farmers, Yuri Korshunov speaks about the berry boom, as these are high-margin crops, borsch set, eco-products and organic agriculture, agrotourism.

In five years, the number of farms in the country has grown by almost 10 percent. At the beginning of 2026, 3,799 operating peasant (farm) farms were officially registered in Belarus, of which 3,323 organizations carried out agricultural activities. The share of peasant (farm) farms in 2025 in the production of grain amounted to 3.4 percent, potatoes - 14.8, vegetables - 16.5. In accordance with the State Program “Agrarian Business” in 2025, state support was provided at the expense of the republican budget to 40 peasant (farm) farms totaling about 20 million rubles. Under the State Program “Small and Medium-sized Entrepreneurship in the Republic of Belarus” in 2025, the Belarusian Fund for Financial Support of Entrepreneurs provided financial support to peasant (farm) farms in the amount of more than three million rubles. Farms are given a special tax regime, they actively use special credit products.

- The president always tells us that the earth needs a master. Farmers should be considered as important participants in the agro-industrial complex. It is necessary to create such conditions, develop logistics infrastructure and processing, so that there are no problems with the delivery and sale of agricultural products, regardless of the volume, and encourage the initiative of people who have taken on difficult work on the ground. I am close to the position of our President: “Let’s live with bread.” It is a guarantee of food security, foreign exchange export earnings, sovereignty and peace. And this is the main and most valuable legacy that I want to pass on to my children and grandchildren – love for native land and work, concludes Yuri Korshunov.

DOSYE

Yuri Korshunov was born on May 4, 1961 in Mogilev.

• In 1981 he graduated from Mogilev Polytechnic College with a degree in “engineer-technologist”.

• From 1990 to 1996 he headed the “Forest Tale” cooperative.

• Since 1996 he has headed KFH Pralesak.

Married, has a son and daughter, four grandchildren.

kukshinskaya@sb.by