Grodno region farmers plan to modernize all livestock complexes by 2030

In the Grodno region, all 102 planned calf dispensaries have been built this year, which allows to improve the maintenance of livestock, as the Head of State demanded from agricultural enterprises in order to reduce the mortality of young animals. Modern dairy complexes are being actively built in the region: 14 investment projects are being implemented this year alone. This contributes to the growth of production and improving the quality of products. We visited the Svisloch district, where two complexes are being prepared for opening, as well as the active resettlement of calves in modern facilities.

- The facility with a capacity of up to 200 calves with individual houses was built in four months. We considered several options for dispensaries, settled on a more high-quality and capital construction. In parallel, the building for animals was reconstructed from three to six months. This year, the farm took the third place in the region in terms of growth in milk production - more than 107% compared to the previous year. In order not to slow down, it is important to have a healthy herd replenishment from an early age.

Livestock farmer Galina Gushtyn is happy to watch the changes for the better - 20 years of experience allows you to compare: - The other day began the resettlement of our calves in the dispensary. The first two months of life are the most important in raising a healthy animal. There are no unnecessary rules for content, cleanliness, creating a microclimate. Now it has become much easier to observe them: convenient access to water has appeared, sinks and dryings are installed in the dairy kitchen, and the calves themselves are always under the roof, warm and dry litter. The head of the neighboring Akr-Agro OJSC Evgeny Dudak notes the urgency of introducing new principles of milking and keeping animals:

- Volumes, revenue, quality – without modern approaches you can forget about them. We are building a new dairy complex on the territory of the former pig farm: some of the unsuitable buildings were demolished, some of them were reconstructed. Two barns, a milk-milk block, five silage trenches, a dispensary and a dry-stick shop have already been built. In total, the farm has 4,150 head of cattle, of which 1,480 are dairy herds, which will increase to two thousand thanks to the complex. All livestock will be transferred to untied maintenance. In five years we have increased the gross yield from one cow from 5.9 thousand liters to almost 10 thousand liters. As a result, the salaries of employees increased almost 2.5 times.

Svisloch district is the only one in the region specializes in different breeds of cattle: meat, dairy (red Belarusian), Holsteins. According to the First Deputy Chairman – Head of the Department of Agriculture and Food of the District Executive Committee Alesya Glinkova, attention is focused on construction in the field of animal husbandry and increasing production volumes:

- By the end of the year, we plan to commission two dairy complexes. Five tethered farms remain in the area, but with the animals resettling in the new conditions, two will remain. Five calf dispensaries have been put into operation. In recent years, we have seen constant growth in gross milk production and cattle cultivation. The total herd is 29,043, including dairy cows 9673 (plus 270 compared to last year) and 329 (plus 33) meat cows. Gross yield from cows for 9 months exceeded 62,606 tons - this is 106.2 percent of the level in January - September last year, yield from cows - 6509 kilograms, which is 108 kilograms more than in the same period of 2025.

In total, there are eight agricultural organizations in the Svisloch district, and each is working on development projects, Alesya Glinkova emphasizes, clarifying the immediate plans:

- In UE "New Dvor" will be built a separate complex exclusively for the red Belarusian breed. Preparation of the construction site will begin soon.

DIRECT SPEECH

Vitaly Dobruk, Deputy Chairman of the Committee on Agriculture and Food of the Grodno Regional Executive Committee:

- By 2030, we expect to completely abandon the maintenance of cows on tethered farms with milking in the milk pipeline, to modernize farms using new approaches and technologies. Over the past five years, 46 investment projects have been implemented in the Grodno region, now about 90% of the dairy herd is located on complexes with milking halls and a computer herd management system. About 20,000 cows remain to be transferred to the dairy complexes. By 2026, it is planned to commission 14 new dairy complexes, four of them have already been commissioned. Next year, construction of new ITCs will begin. All these measures will increase the volume of milk production, improve the quality of products and earn money for decent wages and housing construction. As for the built dispensaries, we can talk about creating comfortable conditions not only for animals, but also for staff: our livestock breeders will be able to qualitatively and fully implement all technical recommendations and care measures. More than 60 percent of dispensaries were built directly with dairy kitchens, the rest already had them. All dispensaries are equipped with means of small mechanization: milk taxis, milk pasteurizers, washers and water heaters.

vrublevskaya@sb.by