Anna Khodorovich.

When people talk about the harvest season, the first thing that comes to mind is the machine operators, combine harvester drivers, and truck drivers. But behind every ton of threshed grain lies the painstaking work of agronomists who know every hectare, every crop, and every aspect of cultivation technology. Anna Khodorovich, an agronomist-seed grower at OAO "Oktyabr," shared how the harvest campaign went at the farm and what work still lies ahead for the laborers.

Well-Coordinated and Precise Work of OAO "Oktyabr"

The harvesting of grain and leguminous crops on the farm was carried out over an area of 1,520 hectares. The total threshed grain amounted to 5,768 tons with an average yield of 37.9 centners per hectare.

"The most productive crop this year was winter wheat," notes Anna Khodorovich. "It was sown on 700 hectares, and we threshed 2,906 tons. The average yield was 41.5 centners per hectare."

Barley deserves special attention. From 300 hectares, the farm threshed 1,692 tons, yielding 39.7 centners per hectare.

"For barley, this is a very good result," says the agronomist. "If across the district they harvested a little over 20 centners, we got nearly 40."

When it comes to how the work was organized, Anna Khodorovich emphasizes: OAO "Oktyabr" always follows its own clearly established plan. Everyone knows their tasks.

During the peak period of the harvest, 7 combine harvesters were at work, along with MAZ trucks and tractors with trailers.

Seed Preparation

The farm takes particular pride in its grass seed production. OAO "Oktyabr" grows seeds of perennial cereal grasses: red fescue, pasture ryegrass, as well as annual ryegrass.

"We threshed 45 tons of perennial grass seeds," Anna Khodorovich says. "Plus 40 hectares of annual ryegrass yielded 70 tons of seeds."

This is seed material that the farm sells. But before selling, the seeds need to be properly prepared.

"This year we built a new bulk grain dryer for drying grass seeds," the agronomist shares. "It's a great help. Now we plan to purchase cleaning machines — a Petkus and a clover huller. We'll be handling only the drying and finishing of grasses in a separate warehouse. This area is becoming an additional source of income for the farm."

Rapeseed — An Important Crop for the Agricultural Enterprise

Another important crop for the farm is rapeseed. If a few years ago it was sown on 340 hectares, this year the area under rapeseed reached 940 hectares.

— Rapeseed is a sought-after crop, — explains Anna Khodorovich. — We deliver it to the Bobruisk plant of vegetable oils. And other enterprises processing oilseeds are also willing to purchase it.

Winter rapeseed (340 hectares) has already been harvested. Its yield amounted to 28.6 centners per hectare. Spring rapeseed is planned to be harvested starting from September. By the way, rapeseed is a good predecessor crop for cereals. After it, wheat is planned to be sown on 940 hectares.

Currently, the farm is completing the processing of seeds. At the grain warehouse where Anna Khodorovich works, preparation of seed material for next year's sowing campaign is underway.

— We monitor the drying regimes, we are finishing the seed processing, — she says. — We have already cleaned up all the nurseries. Ahead lies the harvesting of 240 hectares of clover seed plots — that is also our gold.

The harvesting campaign at OAO "Oktyabr" is coming to an end. The threshing figures, the quality of seeds, and the fulfillment of the state order are all the result of the well-coordinated work of the entire team. And, of course, of such specialists as Anna Khodorovich, who know their job and love it.

Photo by Valentina Kravtsova.

Read also: "The Formula of the Record Harvest".