An ultra-modern livestock complex has opened in the Konotop district

The fairy tale about milk rivers and jelly shores seems to have found its embodiment. And not in a faraway kingdom, but right next to us—in the village of Ternivka, Konotop district, where on December 23 the ceremonial opening of the first stage of construction of the livestock complex of LLC “Vitchyzna” took place, designed to house 1,200 cows.

But before presenting the new facility, the company’s General Director, Serhii Chyzhyk, invited guests to see for themselves that every project undertaken by “Vitchyzna” becomes a source of pride for the Sumy region. This depends largely on accumulated experience—“Vitchyzna” has been engaged in agribusiness since January 2000. Over the years, the company has not only successfully weathered economic crises but has also continued to develop new areas of activity. Thus, in July 2013, thanks to the attraction of foreign and local investments, a long-term development program was implemented, which includes organizing the production of fuel briquettes from grain and sunflower waste and processing livestock waste into biofuel.

Music from the sound of “moo”

The farm in the village of Shpotivka, with which S. Chyzhyk first acquainted us, has been operating for more than five years. During this time, a unique technological chain for dairy production has been created here: from harvesting environmentally friendly feed and maintaining a modern farm to delivering products to milk-processing enterprises. “A cow’s milk is on its tongue,” says the folk wisdom. Therefore, product quality—its taste, color, and aroma—depends on the feed the animal consumes. To provide its herd with the “right” feed base, the company prepares all plant crops itself. An area of 12.5 thousand hectares of fertile land in an environmentally clean area of the Sumy region allows the cultivation of corn, alfalfa, and other crops. The enterprise has its own compound feed production and a grain elevator with a capacity of 48 thousand tons, with plans to increase capacity to 150 thousand tons of simultaneous storage.

Predominantly, Holstein cows are bred at the farm in the village of Zhovtneve; this breed is characterized by high milk productivity. The cows on the farm live as if in “paradise”—mattresses for sleeping and resting meet the physiological needs of animals; special equipment feeds them, waters them, and… even scratches their backs! By the way, during milking, lively disco rhythms are played—this makes it more fun both for the cows, which under such conditions produce higher-quality milk, and for the milking machine operators. It is worth noting that the farm is very clean—the manure removal system is automated, and the smell typical of a cowshed is practically unnoticeable. The animals are kept in a loose-housing system: bulls move freely in the pens, and cows around the farm, which helps create comfortable conditions for reproduction. Life on the farm is in full swing. Twenty minutes before the guests arrived, a calf was born on the farm, warming and drying under special lamps in an incubator. Newborn calves are immediately vaccinated for preventive purposes, which helps preserve herd health.

Skimming the cream

On the eve of the New Year, another livestock complex of the company “Vitchyzna” began operating, this time in the village of Ternivka. The traditional red ribbon symbolizing the successful start of operations at the new facility was cut by Acting Head of the Sumy Regional State Administration Ivan Borshosh, Chairman of the Sumy Regional Council Mykola Klochko, Director of the Department of Agro-Industrial Development of the Sumy Regional State Administration Volodymyr Ivchenko, and Chairman of the Board of Directors of LLC “Vitchyzna” Volodymyr Zaiats. “It seems that everything here is created to please the eye. But the point is not external beauty, it is respect for the cows that give milk and, therefore, life. After all, infants are fed with milk,” Volodymyr Zaiats so touchingly described the new dairy farm.

Now a dairy unit (milking parlor) is operating here, where 20 cows will be milked simultaneously, while in the spacious cowshed No. 1 another 180 of their companions of the Ukrainian Red-and-White breed will comfortably wait their turn. In total, both farms plan to keep about 4,000 head of livestock.

Construction of the complex, costing more than 20 million UAH, took nine months. The quality and reliability of the new facility are guaranteed by the private research and production firm “KVEL.”

The guarantee of uninterrupted operation of the complex is the installation of equipment from the Swedish company DeLaval—the world leader in manufacturing equipment for the dairy industry—which makes it possible to obtain “Extra” class milk. In short, all conditions have been created for the cows, which allows expectations of high yields—here they plan to obtain 8,500 liters of milk per cow annually.