Main directions of operation of the OOO "Telekhany-Agro" agricultural enterprise are dairy-cattle husbandry, as well as cultivation of grain and leguminous crops. Agronomy — a complex and multi-stage technological process to which this enterprise pays due attention.

From plowing to the combine harvester

The chief agronomist of the farm is satisfied with this year's grain harvest.

– As of today, September 9th, all grain has been harvested from 100% of the areas. From 954 hectares, 5,887.1 tons were collected. The yield amounted to 61.7 centners per hectare. Individual fields yielded below 80 centners per hectare, reports Denis Zakarchuk. – The basis of the result is good soil preparation, quality planting and care of the plantings, protection from weeds, diseases and pests. Without good plowing there will be no good sowing, without good harvesting there will be no harvest.

Therefore I would like to highlight the contribution to the collected harvest of this year primarily first of all our mechanizers Boris Fedkova, Vladimir Zhigalin, Dmitry Abramchuk.

The harvesting began later than planned. Unfavorable weather during the ripening period slowed down vegetation and nutrient accumulation in the grain, and in some places it was necessary to reduce the seed density. Nevertheless, they managed to collect the entire grain harvest with minimal losses. Among the leaders in the harvest are the combines: Viktor Gorbache, who collected 1,317.50 tons, Alexander Krikvko – 1,312.80 tons, Vladimir Kovalyev – 1,227.30 tons, Vasily Makarevich – 1,053.20 tons. Among the outstanding drivers are Artur Demidov, who transported 1,141.3 tons of grain, Valery Kopytch – 871.7 tons of grain, Mikhail Kupriyanich – 833.3 tons.

Besides grain, OOO "Telekhany-Agro" cultivates corn and rapeseed — protein-rich crops. Without them high milk production indicators, and therefore financial well-being, would not be achieved.

– We have already begun harvesting the spring rapeseed. The indicators are good: around 30 centners per hectare we obtain. In previous years they barely reached 10–15. Corn also promises to be worthy, which means that silage and grain for animal feed will be sufficient with a reserve, notes the chief agronomist.

Harvesting results for rapeseed are already underway: more than half of the areas have been harvested, oiliness is good, impurities are minimal. This will allow obtaining quality oilseeds and selling them profitably. Parallelly, soil preparation for winter sowing is underway: fertilizers are applied, stubble is removed, and equipment repairs are carried out. The "Telekhany Agro" farmers are working, striving not to miss a single day. They look forward now, because the next season begins with autumn plowing.

Work is waiting

We met one of the leading harvesters, Viktor Gorbač, right in the field where that day the work on rapeseed harvesting was heating up. Viktor Viktorovich – a man of action, a thousand-harvester, whose name has long been in circulation. At OOO "Telekhany Agro" he works under contract. As an experienced combine harvester, he has a formidable workload ahead: grains, rapeseed, and corn. While we conversed, he briefly shut off the engine – time is expensive, every minute counts. Surprisingly, he speaks simply about his difficult labor, in line with his usual rhythm of life.

– I am nearly forty years old. My main workplace is Ivacevich City Housing and Commercial Services, but for about fifteen years I have been participating in harvest operations. Each season I harvest over one thousand – precisely eight hundred eighty tons of grain, and including corn and rapeseed it can reach around four thousand tons. This season the grains were harvested in compressed timeframes. My machine is good, and I have been working on it for five seasons now.

Combine harvesters GS12A1 PRO are indeed reliable, but their operational capability depends largely on the mechanizer. I took a look inside Viktor Gorbač's combine cab – there reigns exemplary order: every part in its place, every device under control.

– In the harvest, like in a journey, there are no small details, – continues Viktor Viktorovich, adjusting one of the reel components. – If something clanged in the morning, don't postpone it to evening. Shut it off, check, tighten – and proceed. Over five years I learned my combine down to the last nut. It responds with care if treated with soul. That is why I sleep peacefully at night. I wake up in the morning, check the fuel level, oils, belts – and head out.

We stood by the field edge where the freshly cut rapeseed stalls shimmered in the sunlight. Gorbač nodded toward them:

– This year the weather cooperated, so the yield is decent. The main thing is not to rush speed, but to maintain a steady pace and see the result. I enjoy when work disputes itself, when the bin is full, and the grain is pure. There isn't just one season behind me, and from memory I recall the peculiarities of each area: where the fields are denser, where there is mud, where there are stones. We will move on to corn next, it has its own specifics. But experience pays: it stays with you both in the cab and during repairs.

To bid farewell, extending a firm, calloused hand, Viktor Gorbač briefly said: "Plans for the future?.. Right now the main thing is to bring the harvest to completion, and only then can we think about plans for the following year. Work does not wait, but people do remember"